


Old Friends

by LittleRedWriter



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Captain America: The First Avenger, F/M, Hydra (Marvel), Marvel Universe, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-05-21 10:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14913552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRedWriter/pseuds/LittleRedWriter
Summary: Christine Lane was recruited by Abraham Erskine himself. She worked with him in his lab to perfect his super-soldier serum and trained alongside Steve Rogers in the field. Christine develops feelings quickly for Steve but things change after his transformation -- he changes. After losing Captain Rogers in the crash, it was thought all hope was lost -- until just enough serum was found to recreate the experiment one last time.





	1. Chapter 1

"Good morning, Dr. Erskine," Christine said as she entered the lab. Erskine was buried in his work, he was so close to perfecting his serum.

“Good morning, Dr. Lane,” he muttered, not looking up from his work. She wondered if he was there all night or if he got there early that morning. She set a fresh mug of coffee beside him and he finally looked up, smiling at her gratefully. She worked alongside him, writing down notes as he talked himself through what he was doing. They worked like that for an hour, him muttering what some might think was madness and her writing quickly, making notes in the margins with her own thoughts. She’d interject every now and then, sometimes her theories were valuable, sometimes Erskine built his own off of them. 

“Have you decided on a subject?” she asked after a couple of hours, a question that had been on her mind for awhile. 

“I have an idea,” he told her. “We just need to get Colonel Phillips to agree.” She nodded, wanting to know more.

“If you don’t mind my asking, who are you thinking about?” she pressed.

“I will announce it tonight,” he smiled a her. “Until then, I believe you’re supposed to be at training.” She looked at her watch and she jumped up, running out of the lab. 

Abraham Erskine brought Christine into this project as his fellow scientist, but with one condition: she was also meant to enlist. He fought many men on this -- woman weren’t allowed to serve. However, if they wanted his project to succeed, Erskine said it was important that Christine enlist. Christine didn’t understand why, when she asked Erskine would give her some vague excuse about how it was important that she train alongside the soldiers so they could assure that they were choosing the right man.

Christine was already in her training uniform and she ran to get in line with the others, jumping in at the end. The soldier next to her was small, about the same size as her.

“Morning, ma’am,” he whispered nervously.

“Good morning, Steve,” she smiled at him. Agent Carter began to walk down the line, inspecting them as she went. She stopped in front of Steve, looking him up and down.

“Rogers, you need to work on building more muscle,” she told him and Christine felt a pang of pity for him. He was a sweet guy that was bullied constantly for being smaller than the other soldiers.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, his voice sounding sad. Agent Carter moved on from Steve, stopping in front of Christine. She smiled at her and Christine smiled back, but it didn’t meet her eyes. 

“Run cadence,” she directed everyone. The soldiers got in lines of two and began to run in sync. Christine was small and agile, she had no issue with holding her own. Instead of leading the group, she remained in the back, beside Steve. He ran with his head down, she could tell that he was feeling bad about himself.

“You okay, Steve?” she whispered and he replied with a sad nod. She decided to leave him alone, planning on talking to him later when no one else was around -- if he’d talk to her. Steve was shy and reserved, especially when it came to women. He’d only ever said a few words to her, but she never stopped trying. 

Christine caught herself pulling ahead, leaving Steve behind. She slowed  
down, not wanting him to be left running alone. 

“You can go ahead, I know you can run faster than this,” he managed to say between breaths.

“I’m not going to leave a soldier behind,” she smiled at him.

“Th-thanks,” he said, his cheeks were pink as he smiled at her. We finished our run, Steve was barely able to breathe but Christine breathed easy as they continued their training. They were doing jumping jacks when they heard someone yell “grenade.” Both Christine and Steve dived towards the grenade, but Steve covered it before she could and she fell to the ground.

“Get back! Everyone get back!” he yelled, curling himself around it.

“It’s a false grenade,” someone said and Christine’s cheeks flushed pink.

“Christine, come here,” Colonel Phillips said and she peeled herself off the ground, dusting herself as she walked over to him.

“Good work,” he told her, causing her to smile. “Go ahead and head to dinner, our meeting is in two hours.” She nodded and helped Steve off the ground. 

“That was really brave of you,” she told him. 

“And you, ma’am,” he smiled shyly at her.

“Steve, you don’t have to call me ma’am,” she laughed.

“I’m sorry, Christine, right?” he asked and she nodded. “Beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, a slight blush on her cheek. They reached the cafeteria nad he opened the door for her like the gentleman he was. She thanked him and they went through the line, their trays were piled with various foods before sitting at a small table in the back of the cafeteria.

“Do you not have any other friends you might want to sit with?” he asked her as they sat down and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“No, none of the other soldiers really acknowledge my existence -- unless they’re feeling lonely,” she said as she looked down at her tray, slightly embarrassed.

“That’s so disrespectful,” he shook his head and she shrugged.

“I try to ignore it,” she told him.

“That must be lonely,” he said and she nodded. “I understand what that’s like. No one wants to associate themselves with the little guy. Honestly, I think you’re even taller than me.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re the same height,” she laughed. “Those guys, they don’t matter. We’re all here to do our jobs.”

“Why do they respect Agent Carter, and not you?” he asked after a long pause.

“She intimidates them,” she shrugged.

“She’s awfully beautiful though,” he said quietly, shaking his head. A pang of jealousy shot through Christine and she suddenly lost her appetite.

“I have a meeting to get to,” she muttered as she got up, leaving quickly. Steve called after her, but she rushed out of there, leaving him behind. She retreated to the quarters she shared with Agent Carter. Because they were the only two girls there, they were constantly put together.

“Good evening, Christine,” she greeted her cheerily.

“Good evening, Agent Carter,” Christine replied.

“I told you, call me Peggy,” she chuckled and Christine nodded. Christine gathered her things and quickly made her way to the shower. She washed the days sweat and grime off of her as she tried to get her emotions under control. Maybe Steve did like Peggy, but why was she to care? She tried to shake away thoughts of Steve as she emerged from the shower, freshly clean. 

Peggy was gone when she arrived back at her room and she let out a sigh of relief. Christine took advantage of the extra time she had since she left dinner early and took her time getting ready. 

She finished zipping up her pencil skirt and slipped on her heels before stopping to look at her reflection. Her blue eyes popped against her black eyeliner, her pale skin appeared even paler against her black bob and red lipstick.

Christine glanced at the clock and decided to head to the lab a little early.


	2. Chapter 2

Christine walked out of the building to see Peggy and Steve, both of them laughing. Steve smiled a smile she had never seen before. A pang of jealousy shot through Christine, she tried to shake it off as she walked towards the lab.

“Hey, pretty lady,” a soldier blocked her path.

“Excuse me,” she said as she tried to walk around him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, grabbing her arm and pulling her in front of him.

“I have a meeting to attend,” she tried to get away but he squeezed her arm, hard.

“I have something I could really use your help with,” he smirked at her. Christine’s nose scrunched up, absolutely disgusted.

“No thank you,” she said, her voice cracked and she tried to pull away again. He grabbed her other arm, pinning her infront of him.

“I don’t take no for an answer,” he growled.

“Let me go,” she yelled at him.

“Come on, baby, lets go back to my room,” he began to drag her toward the bunks.

“No!” she yelled.

“The lady said no,” a familiar voice said.

“Stay out of this, pipsqueak,” the soldier holding her said.

“She said let her go,” Steve said, his voice stern.

“What are you going to do about it?” the soldier challenged him, tossing Christine to the ground. She let out a yell as her ankle twisted beneath her. Steve rushed over to her, asking her if she was okay. She sat there in shock as he knelt down next to her, looking at her ankle. 

“Christine, are you okay?” he asked again and she shook her head no. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her off up off the ground. “Come on,” he whispered. She put pressure on her ankle and she let out a yelp. “Put all your weight on me, I got ya,” he assured her as he tightened his arm around her. They slowly began to make their way to the lab.

to me and looked me in the eyes. "Christine, are you okay?" He asked again and I shook my head no. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "come on," he whispered and helped me up. "Were you headed to the lab?" He asks and I just nod. He starts to walk me towards the direction of the lab, but it hurts to put pressure on my ankle. I winced and he noticed. "Put all your weight on me," he said and I realized he still had his arm around me and slightly blushed. He tightened his arm around me and I put my weight on him. We began to slowly make our way to the lab.

“Are you really going to pick that over me?” the soldier yelled after her. They looked back to see Peggy storm up to him.

“It’s okay, Christine, that guy isn’t going to touch you again,” he whispered.

“It’s not the first time,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

“Well no one is going to touch you like that again.”

“Thank you, Steve,” she whispered.

“Anything for a friend,” he smiled at her and she felt her heart drop. As they began to approach the lab, they saw Dr. Erskine, Howard Stark and Colonel Phillips approaching it as well.

“Christine!” Colonel Phillips yelled, running towards them. “What happened?” 

“One of the other soldiers was trying to force her to go back to his room and he wasn’t about to take no for answer,” Steve explained. “When I tried to intervene, he threw her to the ground and she landed on her ankle.” 

Christine was grateful when Colonel Phillips wrapped his arm behind Christine, taking her from Steve.

“Who was the soldier? I want a name,” Colonel Phillips demanded. 

“Nicolas Smith,” Peggy said as she approached. “He’ll have one hell of a black eye in the morning.”

“I apologize for one of my soldiers treating you like that, he will be punished accordingly, Dr. Lane,” Phillips assured her. “That was awfully brave of you, Steve, Smith is much bigger than you.”

“I don’t like bullies,” he told him and Phillips nodded.

“Good work, soldier, you’re dismissed,” Phillips said and he retreated to his bunk. Phillips helped Christine into the lab where Erskine was able to examine her ankle. 

“It’s just a sprain, I can wrap it for you,” he told her and she nodded. He grabbed some supplies out of his medicine cabinet, including some aspirin. He handed them to her and she swallowed them dry as he wrapped her ankle.

“Are you okay?” Howard asked her as she waited for Erskine to finish wrapping her ankle. She looked at him and shook her head no. Howard was one of the few people here that she could consider a friend.

“That boy was quite small,” Howard said and Christine shot him a glare.

“He’s a great soldier,” she assured him.

“I don’t doubt that, how much bigger is this Nicolas?” he asked.

“Roger might barely come up to his shoulders,” Phillips said. “Nicolas has at least three times the muscle.” Erskine finished wrapping her ankle and stood up.

“Rogers will be our subject,” he announced to the room, their mouths dropped collectively. “He has great character, it won’t be lost when he undergoes the transformation. 

“I agree,” Christine said softly and so did everyone else.

“I’ll help you to your room, Dr. Lane,” Phillips said.

“You can call me Christine, Colonel,” she smiled at him.

“And you can call me Chester,” he smiled at her and she nodded. Erskine handed Chester a set of crutches, but he wrapped his arm under Christine. 

“I’ll help,” Howard said softly and he supported her other side. Peggy stayed behind to talk to Erskine as the three of them made their way back to Christine’s bunk. When they got there, Steve was waiting outside and she smiled.

“I wanted to make sure that you got back okay,” he told her, making her smile. Christine thanked Chester and Howard for their help and they left her there with Steve.

“Thank you,” she said quietly as she situated herself on her crutches. “That really means a lot to me.”

“Are you okay?” he asked her and she chewed her lip nervously, shaking her head. “Do you want to sit?” he gestured to the stairs and she nodded. He helped her sit down and she sighed.

“From now on, I’ll walk with you, okay?” Steve told her and she smiled sadly at him.

“I don’t want to burden you,” she said and he shook his head.

“It wouldn’t be a burden at all,” he smiled at her. 

“Hey Steve,” she said quietly, not sure how he would respond to what she said next.

“Yeah, Christine?”

“I,” she started and took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to know that I have feelings for you and that no matter what happens tomorrow, that’s not going to change,” she said quickly and quietly. His cheeks flushed a light shade of pink and he had a shy smile on his face, just as he was about to say something, a voice interrupted them. 

“Oh there you are,” Peggy’s voice cut through their moment. “Steve, Dr. Erskine asked me to show you to his bunk,” she told them and Steve nodded. He helped Christine up and smiled softly at her before following Peggy. Christine fought the urge to let out a frustrated scream and instead retreated to the inside of her bunk.


	3. Chapter 3

Christine looked away, preoccupying herself as Steve took off his shirt, tie and hat before laying down. She hadn’t talked to Steve at all that day, she left early in the morning with Erskine to ensure that everything was set up properly for today.

“Comfortable? Erskine asked him. 

“It’s a little big,” Steve told him, making Christine laugh. “You save me any of that schnapps?

“Not as much as I should have,” Erskine admitted. “Sorry, next time. Mr. Stark? How are your levels?”

“Levels at 100 percent,” Howard informed him as he entered the room. “We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we’ll ever be.” Steve looked to Christine, a slight panic in his eyes.

“Agent Carter, don’t you think you’d be more comfortable in the booth?” Erskine asked her, guiding her up the stairs. Christine smirked, knowing she didn’t have to leave. Erskine picked up the mic, explaining to everyone there what was about to happen.

“Are you sure about this?” Christine whispered to Steve. He gave her a weak smile and nodded. She lowered part of the machine down onto his chest before giving him a shot of penicillin.  
“That wasn’t so bad,” he said and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“That was penicillin,” Erskine informed him, rolling his eyes. 

Erskine began to count down, Christine watched as Steve was injected with the serum, his eyes shot wide open just before Howard powered up the machine. It closed around him and stood up vertically and Erskine knocked on the machine, asking if Steve could hear him.

“It’s probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?” Steve asked.

“We will proceed,” Erskine said, smiling. Everyone in the room put on glasses to protect their eyes from the light that shone from the machine. Howard began to increase the levels of Vita-Rays, counting in intervals of ten. At seventy percent, Steve began to yell in pain.

“Shut it down!” Peggy yelled.

“Steve, Steve are you okay?” Christine yelled.

“Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Kill the reactor!” Erskine shouted at him.

“No!” Steve yelled from the machine. “I can do this!” He insisted. Christine looked to Howard, hoping he wouldn’t listen but he continued to turn the knob until the Vita-Rays reached 100 percent. Sparks burst throughout the room, the machine began to power down. 

Erskine yelled for the doors to be opened and Christine gasped when they did. Steve was completely transformed, almost two feet taller than he was before. He breathed heavily and Christine watched his muscles move. Before she could get to him, Peggy ran down to him.

“How do you feel?” She asked him, looking at him with admiration she’s never shown him before.

“Taller,” he breathed out, making her laugh. Christine made her way over to him on her crutches, moving Peggy out of the way.

“We should check your vita-” she started to say when there was an explosion from the room above. Steve pulled Christine to him, covering her body with his as glass shattered around him. 

“Stop him!” She heard Erskine yell and when she looked, a man was stealing the last of the serum. He had a gun in his hand and he pointed it at Erskine, shooting him right in the heart. Christine screamed as she saw her mentor crash to the ground, Steve let go of her to get to him and she fell to the ground, sobbing. Erskine looked up at Steve, pointing towards his heart before his hand went limp. Furious, Steve ran out of there, after the man that did this. 

Christine crawled over to Erskine’s body, ignoring the shards of glass that dug into her knees and hands. She searched desperately for a pulse, she begged for there to be one, but she couldn’t find one. She collapsed over his body, sobbing hysterically at the realization that he was gone. Howard crouched down beside her and pulled her into his arms, letting her sob into his chest.

“I have to go help,” she sobbed, trying to get up.

“Not on that ankle,” he whispered. “Steve will take care of it,” he assured her. Chester ran back into the lab after losing the thief and he saw Howard holding onto a broken Christine. He saw blood begin to pool on her tights and he walked over to them.

“Let’s get your cuts cleaned up,” he whispered to Christine and she nodded, letting him help her off the ground. He led her to a seat and helped her sit down, a nurse ran over with a first aid kit and helped her to remove her tights so she could remove the glass from her knees. Another nurse ran over, inspecting her hands for glass. 

Chester began to talk to the other officials there, but Howard remained next to her. Just as the nurses were finishing up her bandages, Steve came back into the lab, completely soaked. When he saw Christine, he rushed over to her and looked her injuries over.

“Are you okay?” he asked her and she shook her head no, tears still running down her face. He wiped them away gently before taking her into his arms, hugging her tight.

“We definitely can’t debate who’s taller now,” she said in a small voice, causing him to laugh. 

“Christine, will you assist with drawing Steve’s blood?” Peggy interrupted them. They broke apart to see her standing there, dry clothes in her hands for Steve.

“Of course,” Christine told her and she stood up, looking for her crutches.

“Here, you shouldn’t put pressure on your ankle” Steve started to wrap his arm around her to help her, but the height difference between them was now significant, making it difficult. “Do you mind?” he asked her and she scrunched her eyebrows together, confused. Before she could ask what he meant, he swept her off of her feet, carrying her out of the glass covered room. 

Christine looked back, seeing emergency responders cover Erskine’s body with a white sheet. She let out another sob at the site and Steve assured her it was going to be okay, that they’d find whoever sent that man.


	4. Chapter 4

Christine removed the needle from Steve’s arm and he sighed.

“Think you got enough?” he asked her.

“Any hope of reproducing the program is locked in your genetic code, but without Dr. Erskine, it will take years,” Peggy informed him.

“He deserved more than this,” Steve told her.

“If it could work only once, he’d be proud it was you,” she smiled at him. He smiled back at her and the two of them shared a moment. Christine reached for her crutches and left the room, not wanting to watch them stare at each other in admiration. When she finally got them situated under her arms, Peggy exited the room before she could. Steve looked at Christine, knowing something was off. He rested a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from leaving. She wondered if he would bring up what she told him last night.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

“No,” she admitted.

“I’m sorry about Dr. Erskine, I knew you two were close,” he said sadly and she nodded.

“He was my mentor, he was the entire reason I’m here, the reason I enlisted. He was the one who made it possible for me to enlist,” she told him.

“You can talk to me, Christine, about anything,” he told her and she nodded, chewing on her lip nervously. “What is it?” he asked her.

“I tried to, last night,” she reminded him and his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink again, she was relieved to see that he was still shy. “It seems like every time we have a moment alone, Peggy is suddenly there.”

“I’ve noticed that too,” he said quietly. 

“Even more so now,” Christine mumbled under her breath.

“With everything going on, I just don’t think now is the right time to-”

“I understand,” she cut him off. The color completely drained from her face, she felt humiliated. She was even more humiliated as she walked out of there on her crutches, unable to walk away quickly.

“Christine-” he started.

“Pack your bags, Agent Carter, Dr. Lane,” Chester’s voice interrupted him. “You too, Stark! We’re flying to London tonight.

“Sir, if you’re going after Schmidt, I want in,” Steve said.

“You’re an experiment,” Chester reminded him. Christine wanted to put as much space between her and Steve as possible, so she called after Howard as he walked away. He stopped and turned around, smiling at her.

“Christine,” he smiled. “Care to share a cab back to base?” he asked and she nodded, leaving Steve behind her.

 

Christine watched from afar as Steve became America’s puppet. She watched him do his show for what felt like the hundredth time. She shook her head as he punched the fake Hitler, this is not what she and Erskine had planned for their super soldier. He wasn’t supposed to be dressed up in costumes, dancing with girls. He was supposed to be out there on the frontlines, going after the real Hitler. She shouldn’t be there either, she thought. She should be in the lab, trying to recreate the serum. But, they wanted her near Steve incase he had any adverse side effects to the serum.

With each show, it became cheesier and cheesier, more and more elaborate. Comics and movies were made about Captain America, merchandise was created. Kids and women approached Steve constantly. She wondered if he remembered her name, or if he forgot about her within the fame of it all. 

They eventually got the order to go overseas, where Steve was supposed to rally the troops and encourage them to keep fighting. But the troops didn’t care about him, they only wanted to see the girls dancing in the short skirts. After Steve was booed off stage, Christine decided it was finally time to talk to him. She slipped backstage, only to find him talking to Peggy -- who wasn’t even supposed to be here. Her heart broke at the site of them together and she slipped away, heading to the medical tent to see here she could be of help. 

Dozens of men were wounded, and every time one of them hit on her, she left them with a black eye. Steve wasn’t there to help her anymore, she had to stand up for herself. It only took three guys and three black eyes before the soldiers finally stopped hitting on her, realizing she wasn’t there to mess around. 

Christine preoccupied herself in the medical tent until it was time for Steve’s next show. She waited until the very last minute before heading backstage, only to discover everyone panicking. No one could find Steve. She ran to Chester’s tent and she startled him as she burst in.

“Where is he?” she asked quickly.

“Who?” he asked confused.

“Steve, where is Steve?” she breathed out and Chester cursed under his breath before getting up, storming out of his tent. She followed him to Peggy’s tent then to Howard’s, cursing the entire time.

“They are all gone,” he cursed. “They must have taken him to Hydra’s base.”

“What? Why?” she asked, panic in her voice.

“He wants to rescue the soldiers that Hydra has captured, he knew someone that went missing,” he explained. Her hands began to tremble at the news and her mind began to think of all the possibilities of what might happen next.

“Do you think he’ll make it back?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He didn’t answer her, wouldn’t even look her in the eyes. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that Steve wa going to die thinking that she was angry with him.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked quietly and she nodded. They walked back to the tent that acted as his makeshift office where he pulled two glasses and a bottle of scotch out of his drawer. He poured them each a drink and Christine drank it quickly, hissing as it burned her throat.

They waited together, waiting for Steve to return. But he never did, only Howard and Peggy returned.


	5. Chapter 5

"...as a result, I must declare Captain Steven Rogers killed in action. Period," Chester said sadly. Tears ran down Christine’s cheek, her head throbbed from her hangover. Peggy walked into the tent and Christine quickly exited without acknowledging her. Christine tried to steady her breathing, tried her hardest to stop the tears that kept rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t. 

She looked around confused, noticing the soldiers all running towards something. She followed them, confused as to what was going on. She stopped dead in her tracks when she made it to main path that cut through camp. 

Leading a large army of men was none other than Captain Steven Rogers. She ran to him, tears continued to run down her face. She stopped in front of him, looking at him carefully to make sure he was okay.

“I thought you were dead,” her voice cracked and he shook his head. “Are you okay?” 

“Some of these men need medical attention,” he said and he looked behind her. “I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Chester said from behind her. “Christine, we’ll need your help in medical.” 

“You’re late,” she heard Peggy say to Steve from behind her. Christine retreated to the medical tent, not wanting to watch them interact. She heard the crowd of men cheer for Steve as she entered the medical tent, looking for someone to help. 

 

Christine watched as Howard examined a piece of HYDRA tech that the soldiers stole from the HYDRA base. She had been working with him to develop Steve’s uniform and to study the technology that HYDRA was using. She was barely listening to him mutters when there was an explosion, throwing her against the wall.

“Write that down,” he said to one of the assistants as he tried to sit up.

“Christine,” she heard someone say and heels clicking against the ground. “Are you okay?” the voice asked and she looked up to see Peggy. 

“I’ve been better,” she tried to laugh as she rubbed the shoulder that hit the wall.

“Let’s go and get you some ice for that,” Peggy insisted and Christine nodded. Peggy helped Christine to her feet before looking her over, making sure she wasn’t bleeding anywhere. When Peggy determined they were okay, they began walking towards the medbay. 

“I wanted to apologize,” Christine said to Peggy and they stopped walking, Peggy looking at her confused. Christine decided she was going to start taking the high road and let Steve and Peggy be happy together -- no matter how much it pained her. “For being so distant and ignoring you all this time. Before the procedure, I admitted to Steve that I had feelings for him -- and he turned me down.”

“Oh Christine,” she whispered. “I didn’t know, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, I’ve gotten over it,” she lied and they began to walk again. “I’m glad you two are getting along so well,” she lied again and Peggy smiled.

“I was actually looking for him when I saw you get his by that blast,” she said as they rounded the corner. “Captain!” Peggy exclaimed. There Steve was, kissing some blonde. “We’re ready for you if you are not otherwise occupied,” she told him before turning and storming away. Her heels clicked loudly as she stormed through the halls.

“Agent Carter, wait!” he yelled after her. Christine chased after them, knowing she should try to be there to comfort Peggy.

“Looks like finding a partner wasn’t so hard after all,” Peggy spat at him as he followed her.

“That’s not what you thought it was,” he said -- the red lipstick on his lips not helping his case.

“I don’t think anything, Captain, not one thing. You always wanted to be a soldier and now you are, just like the lot of them. Just like Nicolas, even,” she said, glancing over to Christine as she did. Steve stopped in his tracks, looking between Christine and Peggy.

“What about you and Stark, how do I know you two haven’t been… fondue-ing?” Peggy stopped, looking at him like he was an idiot.

“You still don’t know a bloody thing about women,” she snapped at him before leaving the room.

“What happened to you, Steve?” Christine asked him sadly. 

“Am I really like Nicolas?” he looked at her and she sighed.

“Broken ankles will heal, broken hearts may never,” she told him before turning to leave. He reached for her hand and she turned around to look at him.

“Do you think Peggy will forgive me?” he asked her and she scoffed.

“I’m not talking about Peggy,” she told him, tears welling in her eyes. 

“Christine,” he whispered as he let go of her hand. “I-” he started but she ran out of there as fast as she could. He called after her and she could hear footsteps behind her, but she ran hard and fast. She burst out of the compound and ran towards the treeline, not stopping until she was out of site. She collapsed in the grass, a sob shook through her. She tried desperately to get her emotions under control, knowing she had to go back to the compound before they started to look for her. 

“I saw what happened,” a voice said, startling her. She turned and saw Howard standing there, hands in pockets. She wiped away at her tears, and he reached out to her, offering her a handkerchief.

“Thanks,” she whispered as she accepted it. He sat next to her in the grass, sighing.

“Steve’s an idiot,” he told her. She didn’t know what to say to him. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

“He doesn’t even want me,” she muttered.

“And he’s an idiot for that,” he looked over at her, a soft smile on his lips. “You love him, don’t you?”

“I tried really hard not to,” she said, her voice cracking. “I have since before…”

“When he was just a pipsqueak?” he asked, raising his brows. She nodded and he was surprised. “I don’t think Peggy can say the same.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Colonel, I am just as trained as everyone else,” Christine exclaimed. The past few days everyone had been preparing for the ambush of Hydra’s last location, today was finally the day.

“You are the only person that might be able to recreate Erskine’s serum,” he said sternly. “We can not risk losing you.”

“Why does Carter get to go?” She asked, throwing a proper fit.

“She’s not as valuable to us,” he whispered to her before walking away. She huffed in frustration before storming into Howard’s office. They were the only two being left behind. 

“If it makes you feel better, you are much prettier than her,” Howard told Christine.

“Then why does he have her picture in his compass?” she countered.

“Because he’s a damn fool,” he told her.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” she asked, pacing in his office. 

“This is what he was created for,” he assured her. 

“What do we do now?”

“We wait,” he said and she sighed, sitting down in one of his extra chairs. “Drink?” he asked her and she nodded. He pulled two glasses out of his desk and she couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Why does everyone have booze in their desk?” she asked him and he smiled.

“For when work gets boring,” he told her as he filled the glass and handed it to her. They said cheers and she drank the scotch fast, feeling a familiar burn in her throat. He dug a large sketchbook out of his desk with some pencils and she looked at him confused. “Lets design you a new uniform,” he suggested.

“No red, white, or blue,” she told him and he laughed as he sketched out a model.

“Of course not. Skirt or pants?” he asked her and she scoffed.

“Do you really expect me to fight in a skirt?”

“Pants it is,” he said as he sketched slim pants onto the figure. “I’m thinking all black.”

“I agree,” she told him. “I want it to be practical.” She watched as he sketched black combat boots onto the model. He drew the neckline of her top a little low and she glared at him, making him laugh. She poured them both another drink, moving to sit on his desk so she could watch him closer. She watched him draw a utility built, equipped with guns and grenades.

“How do you feel about shields?” he asked her and she shrugged.

“I’ve never used one,” she told him.

“We’ll make it lightweight, but sturdy,” he told her.

“I kind of like the round one Cap carries, that way it can be thrown.”

“There,” he said when he was done and she smiled.

“Other than the cleavage, it’s perfect,” she laughed as she finished off the rest of her drink. 

“It looks good,” he told her and she shrugged, pouring another drink.

“I’m no superhero,” she told him before downing her drink.

“Thirsty?” he chuckled and she sighed.

“Just trying not to think about what’s going on out there,” she admitted. “My mind always goes to the worst places.”

“Perhaps I can help distract you,” he said as he stood up. He walked over to his record player, dropping the needle. “May I have this dance?” he extended his hand and she couldn’t help but to giggle, feeling tipsy from the scotch. She took his hand, hopping off of his desk and he twirled her before pulling her close to him. The song was slow as they moved together. Howard held her hand in his, his other hand on the small of her back. His face was barely even an inch from hers as they danced. She could feel his gaze on her and she looked up, meeting his gaze. She didn’t dare breathe, scared of what might happen if she did. 

Howard closed the space between them, his lips softly meeting hers. She froze for a moment before kissing him back. He pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. The scotch-filled haze cleared from her mind and she pulled her lips away, but remained in his arms.

“Christine,” he started. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, his fingers gently caressing her cheek and he leaned in again, but she turned away.

“It wouldn’t be fair to you, Howard,” she told him.

“It’s already not fair,” he said and she looked at him sadly.

“I’m so sorry,” she said and he hugged her close to him.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, stroking her hair. They remained like that, in each others embrace, slowly swaying to the music. 

 

Christine woke up on Howard’s couch, being shaken awake by Chester. He was kneeling beside her and she immediately noticed the solemn look in his eyes. She sat up, looking around for Steve, but only finding Howard stood in the doorway of his office, not meeting her gaze.

“Chester?” she asked, voice still filled with sleep. “Where’s Steve?”

“We need to talk,” he said, his voice sad and her heart broke. She knew what that meant.

“Don’t say that,” she begged. “Please don’t say that. Where’s Steve?” She stood up, running to the door, but Howard stopped her, she couldn't help but to notice the red in his eyes as he looked away from her. She turned around again, looking at Chester. “Chester, where’s Steve?” she asked again, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She screamed Chester's name again, demanding answers. He couldn’t meet her gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. It felt like all of the air had been knocked out of her. 

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “NO!” she screamed, falling to her knees. Sobs shook through her trembling body as Chester crouched down to take her into his arms. She tried to push him away, tried to hit him. She screamed in pain, realizing that Steve was gone. Chester wrapped his arms tightly around her, trying to hold her still as she fought him. She eventually gave up, gave into the pain -- and it consumed her. 

“What happened?” she sobbed into his chest.

“He sacrificed himself to save millions,” Chester whispered and she sobbed. She felt like she was dying.

“He can’t be gone,” she cried.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair.

“He can’t be gone,” she repeated. “I love him,” she sobbed.


	7. Chapter 7

Christine laid in her bed, tears streaming down her face. She was back in New York now that the war was over. She hadn’t left her bed in four days, not since she got home. She couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed, not when she’d never see Steve again. 

She was able to live with the fact that he rejected her, because he was still here. He was still alive, she could still be his friend, she could still talk to him. But now he was gone, his body deep within the ocean. She would never get the chance to apologize for pushing him away, she would never get the chance to tell him she was sorry. 

She hated herself for how she treated him after he rejected her. She hated herself for giving up their friendship just because her feelings were hurt. She’d never forgive herself for ignoring him during his final days. She sobbed as she thought of him. 

She couldn’t help but to lay there and wonder what would have happened if he would have never been chosen by Erskine. Would he have admitted to feeling the same way about her? Would they have fallen in love? Gotten married? Had children? Grown old with each other? 

But she also knew that Red Skull would have dropped those bombs onto the States if it wasn’t for Steve. She knew that either way, she wouldn’t have had a ‘Happily Ever After’ with Steve. 

She kept replaying the last thing she said to him in her mind. She practically told him he was worse than Nicolas. She wished more than anything that she wouldn’t have ran away after confessing her feelings to him. She just wanted to know what he would have said to her.

Chester kept coming over, uninvited. He tried to get her to eat, to just get out of bed, but she refused. She lost her will to live, lost her will to even survive.

“Christine Elizabeth Lane!” Chester’s voice boomed through the apartment and she buried herself further into her bed, trying her best to hide from him. 

“This is getting ridiculous,” he said as he burst into her room. He tore the blanket off her bed and she curled into a small ball. 

“You’re needed,” he told her.

“I’m taking a personal day,” she said, her voice weak.

“You’ve had enough of those,” he told her.

“The love of my life just died, there will never be enough personal dates,” her voice was bitter and he sighed before sitting down next to her.

“I understand, but Steve wouldn’t have wanted you to live like this.”

“Steve probably didn’t even think about what would happen to me as he plummeted into the ice,” Chester sighed, not knowing how to respond.

“We really need you to come in to work,” he finally said.

“I quit,” she said and he sighed.

“We can do this the hard way, if that’s what you want,” he stood up and plucked her out of her bed. 

“Hey!” she squealed as he threw her over his shoulder. 

“You gave me no choice,” he said as he exited her apartment. She was jostled around as he quickly made his way down her stairs and out of her building.

“People are staring,” she told him.

“Let them,” he said as he opened the car door, placing her inside before getting in himself. 

“This is ridiculous.”

“That’s how I feel,” he said. 

“What was so important?” she asked him as they drove through the city. He ignored her, refusing to tell her what was going on. 

They sat in silence as the car made its way through Brooklyn. They turned down a street that looked familiar to her and she scrunched her eyebrows, confused. The car stopped and she knew exactly where she was as she followed Chester through the building. They were in the same lab they used to perform the experiment on Steve. Howard was there, along with Peggy and a few nurses.

“What are we doing here?” she finally asked.

“We discovered hidden vials of Dr. Erskine’s serum in his home,” he explained. “We have just enough to either conduct the experiment again or we can study it and hope that someone can interpret it. Right now, America needs hope after losing Steve, so we decided to conduct the experiment.”

“Who’s the subject?” she asked, looking around for a soldier.

“You,” Chester told her.

“There must be a mistake,” she stammered.

“You were actually Dr. Erskine’s first choice, but we were required to perform it on a man,” Chester told him. Christine sat down in a nearby chair, allowing everything to process.

“Are you willing to do this?” Howard knelt down beside her. She chewed her lip nervously before nodding.

“What was the last thing you ate?” Chester asked her and she thought for a moment.

“Scotch, with Howard,” she looked at him and his mouth dropped.

“Christine, that was five days ago,” he told her and she shrugged. 

“You’re metabolism will be higher after this, requiring you to eat a lot more,” Chester told her before leading her over to the machine for the transformation. Peggy came over to her with a robe and guarded her from Howard’s gaze as she removed her top. She had to be bare chested for the experiment, but the robe allowed her to cover as much as the machine allowed. She lied down and Peggy gave her hand a squeeze as she received a shot of penicillin. 

“No matter how much I scream, do not stop the machine,” Christine told her and Peggy nodded. 

“We will not stop, no matter what,” Howard promised her. 

“Then let's begin,” she said. Howard turned the machine on and the needles penetrated her skin. The serum began to rush into her and she gasped as the machine began to close around her. Pain surged through her body as Howard increased the vita-rays, counting by ten as he did so. Her breath was completely knocked out of her by the pain, she was unable to scream even if she wanted to.

“You’re doing great, Christine,” she heard Chester say. She couldn’t do anything but gasp between the pain and when she never thought it was would end, the machine began to die down. She gasped for air, breathing heavily as the doors opened. Peggy ran up to her, closing her robe for her. Christine’s body relaxed against the back of the machine, her muscles ached to the point that she was afraid to move. Sweat poured off of her as Chester came over to her, helping her out of the machine, telling her how great she did.

“It worked,” Howard’s eyes scanned her body as he supported her other side.

“Like what you see?” she asked him between breaths, causing him to blush. “I really need some bigger pants now,” she laughed when she noticed the knees of her pants ripped.

“Let’s get you changed,” Peggy smiled at her and replaced Howard. Christine was once shorter than Peggy, but now she towered over her. Peggy helped Christine into one of the examination rooms where there was an entirely new outfit waiting for her and she thanked Peggy for her help before peeling off the now too small clothes. There was a mirror in the room and Christine looked herself over. She was at least 5’11 now, much taller than her previous 5’4. She looked at her body, it was muscular but still feminine. It was clear that she was strong, her muscles were defined, but not in an unattractive way. She still had a womanly shape to her, a more defined hourglass shape with perfectly smooth hips and perfect, perky breasts. She had lightly sculpted abs, toned but feminine legs. She took a moment to be grateful that she didn’t look like the muscular woman she saw at the circus once. She tore her eyes away from her reflection, deciding she needed to get dressed and join the others. When she opened the door, Peggy was waiting for her outside.

“How do I look?” Christine asked nervously.

“Perfect,” she breathed out, causing Christine to blush.

“That’s an awfully strong word.”

“It’s true, though,” Peggy assured her. Christine thanked her before returning to the others. In heels, she was slightly taller than Howard. His eyes scanned over her body and he couldn’t believe her transformation.

“So, why do you need me?” Christine finally asked.

“You’ll be taking Steve’s place as Captain America,” Chester informed her and she looked at him, confused.

“The war is over,” she pointed out.

“We know, but there is always a chance of another occuring, You’ll become the new face of America, be someone America can look up to.”

“I’m not doing any ridiculous shows,” she told him. “I won’t be a monkey in a suit.”

“Deal,” Chester told her.

“You will have to wear red, white, and blue,” Howard told her and she sighed. “It will look identical to Steve’s, it’ll just be more feminine.”

“No cleavage,” she told him and he laughed. “I’m serious.”

“Fine,” he shook his head. 

“I could really go for a drink,” Christine sighed and everyone looked away nervously. “What?”

“Your metabolism, it’s sped up to the point that it burns off the alcohol,” Peggy told her. “The same thing happened to Steve.”

“Anything else I should know?” Christine asked, looking around at the group.

“The serum, it also slowed down your aging -- to the point that it might as well have stopped,” Howard said.

“What?” her and Peggy both said at the same time.

“Are you saying I’ll always be twenty-one?” Christine asked.

“Not exactly,” Howard explained. “One year for you is about twenty five for us.”

“Did Steve know this?” she asked and they shook their head no. She had to sit down as she accepted this, as she accepted the fact that she would spend an eternity watching everyone she cares about die.


	8. Chapter 8

Christine sat at her kitchen table, her head resting in her hands. She couldn’t believe what was happening to her, couldn’t believe what she gave up. She couldn’t help but to wonder if she would have chosen differently if they would have told her beforehand. She wondered if Steve would have chosen differently if they would have told him beforehand. All of her thoughts kept returning back to Steve. 

Would she ever get over him, or would she spend forever mourning him? She hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t, that she’d be able to find peace. Whether or not it was soon, she did not care. She just hoped that she would one day find peace.

Christine heard a knock on her door and she sighed, getting up to see who it was. Howard was standing there, his arms full of togo bags from a local diner.

“I brought comfort food,” he smiled at her and she let him in. He set down the bags of food on the kitchen table, where he saw a notepad laying open and he couldn’t help but to pick it up and read through the list Christine was writing.

“What is this?” he asked her confused.

“Oh,” she said when she realized he found her notepad. “A list of things I always wanted but now I have to give up.” He sat down at the table, reading through the list.

“Dating, getting married, having kids, growing old, retiring, falling in love,” his voice became quiet and he looked at her sadly.

“Don’t pity me,” she said, her voice cracking. 

“Christine,” he said softly as tears began to well in her eyes.

“It’s fine,” she tried to tell him as the tears slipped down her cheeks. Immediately, he stood and pulled her into his arms. 

“You’re allowed to be sad,” he told her.

“I went from mourning Steve to mourning Steve and my own life,” her voice broke.

“You’re still going to have an amazing life,” he told her and she shook her head.

“How can I? I’m going to have to watch everyone I know grow old and pass away,” her voice was full of sadness and he pulled away slightly to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Her lip quivered, she kept thinking about everything she gave up.

“Why don’t you come stay at my place for awhile? I don’t like the idea of you being here alone,” he told her.

“I couldn’t--” 

“Of course you can,” he assured her. “Just temporarily,” he insisted and she chewed her lip nervously before nodding, knowing she didn’t want to be alone. 

 

“Temporarily” turned into four years. Howard quickly became Christine’s best friend, but when she realized that he was still hoping she would change his mind and be with him, she had to move out of his house. She wanted him to move on with his life, he still had the chance to. They still had lunch together every day, but she wanted him to live his life, to fall in love. She moved into the base of the agency they started with Peggy and Chester -- S.H.I.E.L.D.

Christine and Peggy weren’t close friends, Christine still resented her for being the girl Steve chose. It wasn’t Peggy’s fault, but it was too hard to be around her, even though Peggy had moved on from Steve. She had been going steady with a guy for awhile, Christine was sure they would get married.

Chester was still Chester, a dear friend and father figure that was always present in Christine’s life. He was still her Colonel, but he was also her friend. He would join her and Howard for lunch at least once a week and he would also have Christine over for dinner. They were afraid to leave her alone, especially now that she lived on base by herself. Her friends tried to weave themselves into her day as much as possible, knowing she was still mourning both her life and Steve’s. 

Christine didn’t have any family that she talked to, they disowned her before she left to be a scientist for the military. Her parents believed that women belonged in the home, not at work -- and especially not in the military. They told her repeatedly that she was too weak to be a soldier but when they realized she was the new Captain America, her family tried so hard to get back in touch with her -- they just wanted the lifestyle and the money. They didn’t care about her. She wasn’t even sad the day she had to file a restraining order against them. 

Chester wasn’t able to keep his promise, she was forced to perform shows just like Steve used to. But instead of being surrounded by showgirls, she was surrounded by soldiers in too tight of uniforms. She refused to wear anything too revealing, insisting that she was a role model, not a sex object. Christine never wanted this life, never wanted to be a puppet. She wanted to help the world, but they didn’t give her the chance. There was no war to fight, so she had no choice but to be their puppet. She became Captain America -- a controversial title. At first they wanted her to be called Madame America, but women of the United States thought that she was just as capable of being a Captain and thought that little girls should be able to look up to a woman that was Captain. And she agreed, she didn’t understand why she had to take a lower title than Steve. She received the same serum as him and was physically able to do the same tasks as him.

Christine closed herself off from the rest of the world, not letting anyone in. She couldn’t handle the thought of one day losing Chester and Howard, she couldn’t imagine losing anyone else -- so she made sure she couldn’t.

As for Steve, they never recovered his remains or found the plane he went down in -- but they did find the tesseract. Christine was so hopeful when they found the tesseract, but she had to let go of that hope when they gave up searching for him. And as for her feelings towards him, Christine was still desperately in love with Steve Rogers. She was unable to let go of him, unable to fall out of love. 

 

Twenty-five post-transformation, Christine was technically forty six, but she still looked only twenty-two. The military still used her likelihood to represent freedom and all things good, but she was no longer their personal puppet. No one was interested in seeing her dance around a stage anymore. She still made appearances, but only to give speeches.

Howard was now fifty three and Christine was happy that he fell in love and started his life with Maria. She tried not to be jealous of him and his happiness, but it was hard to watch someone else live a life you only wished you could have. He had a wife, love, and happiness. And now they were expecting a child together. Christine was so happy for them and also so scared for them. She was going to watch this beautiful baby come into this world and she was going to fall head over heels in love with him or her, then she was going to have to watch him or her leave this world. 

After a few decades, people finally stopped trying to get close to Christine. It was well known that she had a wall built around her, that she wouldn’t let anyone in. But as the public watched her stay frozen in time, they completely understood why she wouldn’t let anyone in. It made distancing herself from everyone easier. 

She still thought of Steve everyday, still cried at his memory. She couldn’t move on from him -- a man she never even had. She begged herself repeatedly to just let him go, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t shake the feelings she had for Steve Rogers.


	9. Chapter 9

Christine cooed at the baby in her arms, Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark. She swore that he was the most perfect baby she had ever seen. Maria was asleep in the hospital bed, Howard had went to get something to eat and Tony had needed rocked, so Christine happily volunteers.

“Hi Tony,” she whispered to the newborn. “You don’t know how lucky you are to have two parents that love you so much,” the newborn began to fall asleep in her arms as a tear rolled down her cheeks. “And I will love you just as much, just like if you were my own. I promise to be the best aunt and spoil you constantly because I can’t have a little one… Oh, but I want to,” she confessed to the sleeping baby. “A little boy named Elijah, he’d have my dark hair and his father’s blue eyes with a little bit of green in them. And he’d be so protective of his little sister, Kyla, just like their dad. Kyla would have her father’s sandy blond hair but my icy, blue eyes. She’d be a daddy’s girl, of course, and Elijah would be the best big brother. He’d grow up to be a great man, just like his father…” she wiped the tear from her cheek and she tried to let go of her perfect dream.

“You imagine having kids with Steve?” Howard asked quietly and her face turned a dark shade of red, not knowing he had been listening.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked him and he smiled softly at her.

“Since you promised to spoil him -- like I’m not already going to do that,” he chuckled softly. “If Steve was here, that’s what I would want for you two. I know how much you loved him.”

“Love,” she corrected him.

“He’s not coming back Christine,” he whispered.

“Trust me, I know,” she told him. “That doesn’t change the fact that I love him. But that doesn’t matter, all that matters is this little bundle,” she smiled down at Tony.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you,” Howard said and she looked at him confused.

“What is it, Howard?”

“Maria and I would like for you to be Tony’s guardian,” he said and her heart melted.

“Of course, I’d be honored,” she whispered, a tear streaming down her cheek. 

 

“Come on Tony, walk to Aunt Chrissy!” Christine urged Tony. He was holding himself up on a coffee table and he would start to let go but then panic and grab on again. He was almost ten months old and everyone swore he was the smartest baby they had ever met.

“You can do it buddy,” she insisted as he let go of the table. She watched with awe as he took his first, shaky step. He took a few more before gaining the courage to run into her arms.

“I knew you could do it!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms round him, holding him tight to her. “You’re getting to be such a big boy.”

“Chrissy!” He squealed, making her laugh. “Chrissy!” She stood up, scooping him up with her and making him laugh.

“Are you hungry?” she asked and he squealed with delight as she put him into his highchair. He signed hungry to her and she shook her head, bewildered by the intelligent boy.

She scattered some cereal on the tray of his chair to keep him occupied as she got his baby food. She grabbed some baby food from the pantry and a spoon before sitting down and feeding him. Just as she finished feeding him and cleaning him up, the doorbell rang throughout the house.

“Who could that be, Tony?” she asked him, her brows pulled together in confusion. She held Tony close to her as she walked to the front door. When she looked through the peephole, her heart stopped, her stomach dropped to her feet.

“Hello officers,” her voice shook as she opened the doors.

“Christine Lane?” one of them asked and she nodded. “I’m afraid there has been an accident. May we come in and talk?” All she could do was nod. One of them guided her to a couch, she held onto Tony as tight as she could as she sat down.

“We regret to inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Stark’s car was found crashed along the interstate,” the other officer started. “Unfortunately, they were both declared dead at the scene.”

The corner of Christine’s vision started to go black, her breathing quickened, tears started to stream down her face. Her biggest fear was coming true -- she had lost two of the most important people in her life. 

“The bodies have already been identified…” she could barely hear the officer saying. It wasn’t until Tony cried loudly that she was pulled from her thoughts.

“It’s okay, Tony,” she whispered as she rocked him close to her. She had to be strong, she had to be strong for Tony.

“Is there anything else?” her voice shook and the officers shook their head, no.

“Is there someone we could call for you, ma’am?” they asked.

“There is no one else,” her voice cracked and they nodded, a look of sadness in their eyes as they let themselves out. They knew who she was, they heard the rumors. They heard that she was guarded and she never let anyone in. They knew it was just the Stark’s that she was close to, because Howard was there before her transformation. They knew what it meant to her now that they were gone. 

She held Tony close to her, rocking him to stop him from crying. But it was pointless, he could sense that she was upset, making him upset. 

“We’ll get through this,” she whispered, her voice broken and defeated. She didn’t know what was going to happen to them. She didn’t know if they’d be okay or not, but she had to hope. She had to hope that as long as she had Tony, she would be okay. 

She held Tony all night, he eventually fell asleep on her chest and she knew she should sleep too, but she couldn’t stop her thoughts or her tears. Eventually, though, exhaustion won out and she fell asleep, holding on to Tony.

The next morning, she woke up to the phone ringing. Tony squirmed on her chest, the noise waking him, too.

“Hello,” she answered the phone, still half asleep.

“Ms. Lane?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Mhmm,” she yawned.

“I apologize for waking you, but due to recent events it was important that we get in touch. This is Charles, I was the Stark’s lawyer, can you meet with me today?” Christine finally came to her senses when she heard the word was.

_It wasn’t a nightmare,_ she thought.

“Could you stop by the tower? I think it’d be best if Tony and I stayed inside during this time,” she said.

“Yes, Ms. Lane, I’ll be over at nine,” he told her and she said her goodbyes. Her body went into autopilot as her mind was unable to comprehend everything that was happening.

Feed Tony. Feed herself. Wash and get Tony dressed. Wash and get herself dressed. 

The doorbell rang exactly at nine. Christine took a deep breath before opening the door to see Charles standing there. They had met before, but Christine was still uncomfortable when he hugged her and Tony.

“Come in,” she invited him in before leading him to Howard’s office. She sat behind the desk, feeling guilty as she did so. She held onto Tony, unable to let him go right now, 

“I offer you my condolences during this time, Ms. Lane,” Charles began. “After Anthony was born, Howard rewrote his will and his wishes in the case that he passed. As godmother and as one of the few people that Howard and Maria trusted, you are now the sole guardian of Anthony,” he informed her. “In addition to being responsible for Anthony and his inheritance, Howard left you his businesses and fortune.”

“What?” she choked. 

“He has appointed you as owner of Stark Industry, however in the instance of his death he did identify someone to take over as CEO to run Stark Industries so that you were not burdened with learning how to run and operate the company. With that said, if you choose to, you still have a voice within the company and can make executive decision. And when he comes of age, Anthony will take over within the company.”

“Okay,” she breathed out. 

“The tower is now yours, as well,” he continued and she looked around Howard’s office, realizing it was all hers now. She let out a shaky breath as he continued to list off everything that was hers now. And then she looked down at Tony, the toddler chewing on his hands. He was her responsibility now. She would have to raise him, she was responsible for who he would grow up to be. 

“Do you have any questions?” Charles asked her and she shook her head, no. “Mr. Stark also left this for you,” he handed her a letter before letting himself out. She held the letter in her hand, the envelope was thick and she wondered what could be written on the inside.


	10. Chapter 10

Tony was down for a nap and Christine was left alone with the letter. She sat in Howard’s office, it still smelled of his cologne. She tried to steady her breath as she opened the envelope, surprised to find two folded up bundles of paper. One was clearly older, yellowed with age. She started with it.

_My dear Christine,_

_If you are reading this, then I have passed on. I never wanted to leave you Christine, I’m so sorry that I have. If I could have taken that serum with you, I would have in a heartbeat. That way, you would have never been alone._

_Did you know that I used to be crazy about you? Head over heels for you, well before your transformation. I wanted to take you out dancing, to the finest restaurants, to travel the world with you -- but you only had eyes for Steve._

_Then he died, and I watched your heart break. I wanted nothing more than to be there for you, to comfort you, to love you like you loved him._

_Then, you agreed to the transformation. You were reborn into something else -- something that you grew to hate. When you realized what your new life meant for you, you expressed to me that you would never allow yourself to fall in love again. You were too afraid of losing someone, just like you lost Steve. You were too afraid to relive this emotions. I knew that I had to let you go, that I had to get over you. But god, it was hard. You are the definition of perfect and you always have been. I guess I didn’t do a great job of hiding my feelings for you, because you left. You moved out, afraid of leading me on more. Not wanting to lose you as a friend, I have to get over you._

_I know it won’t be easy, and when I look at you, still in love with Steve, I wonder if it will be possible at all._

_I hope that when you’re reading this, you’ve found peace -- both with your situation and with your love for Steve. I hope you’ve let him go, I hope you’re no longer grieving. I want nothing more than for you to be happy, Christine, and I fear that as long as you love him, you may never be happy._

Tears rolled down Christine’s cheeks as she read his letter. She continued to read his letter -- it was his goodbye to her. He wrote out all of his hopes and dreams that he had for her, continued to confess his love for her, and thanked her for always being there for him.

She let out a shaky breath as she put the letter down. With shaky hands, she picked up the second one that looked like he had recently written it. 

_My dearest Christine,_

_If you are reading this, then both Maria and I are dead. At the time of my writing this, Tony is five months old. There is no one else in this world that Maria and I trust as much as you, that is why you’ve received full custody of Tony. I know that you will love him with all of your heart, like you love all things._

_I’m so sorry, Christine, you must be terrified. I know you never wanted children, I know that you fear losing them -- but you are already so close to Tony. He is the child you always wanted but were too afraid to have. If he is too young to remember us, Maria and I grant you permission to raise him as your own. It might be easier on him that way -- but it is entirely up to you. Just please, let him know that his father loved him -- more than anything. And if it were up to me, I would have never left his side._

_I’m sure Charles has already spoken to you and you know that we have left everything to you. Like I’ve already stated, there is no one else we trust as much as you. When he’s of age, Tony will not only receive his inheritance but also Stark Industries. I know in my heart that you will raise him to be a better man than I ever could have._

_As I’m currently writing this, I know that you are still mourning Steve. I hope that as you start this new chapter in your life, you are able to move past Steve. You know that I want nothing more than for you to be happy._

Christine put the letter down as a sob shook through her. She couldn’t read anymore, not right now. She was overwhelmed with her thoughts and emotions. She didn’t know how to move past this.

 

If it weren’t for having Tony, she knew she wouldn’t have made it. Having a child gave her something to focus on, something to distract her and something much more. Tony gave her happiness, true happiness that she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

She loved him with every fiber of her being, he became her life -- he was all she had. Everyone else she knew was gone, there was nobody remaining from her past life that she still kept in contact with. All she had was Tony and the memories of those she had loved before him.

Throughout the day, she’d smile and laugh with her toddler -- but then the nights came and they felt impossible. Alone with her thoughts, her mind would go to the darkest places. She mourned the ones she loved, she mourned the day that Tony would grow older than her. She mourned her life.

 

“Tony!” Christine yelled as she ran into his room. Their big, white Samoyed, Sergeant, barked as the fire alarm went off. Tony was covered in soot, as well as everything in his room.

“Yes?” Tony asked innocently.

“What did I tell you about explosions?” she asked him sternly.

“That all explosions should take place in the lab,” he looked at his feet.

“Which was very generous of me because you are seven and shouldn’t be making anything explode,” she crouched down next to him and wiped the soot from his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry, mama,” he said and she looked at him surprised.

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said as he continued to look at his feet. “I know you’re not biologically my real mom, but it feels like you are in my heart,” he told her and she pulled him into her arms, tears streaming down her cheek.

“Oh, Tony,” she couldn’t help but cry.

“Are those happy tears?” he asked her and she pulled away, nodding.

“The happiest,” she kissed him on the forehead.

“So, it’s okay if I call you my mom?” he asked her as he wiped her tears away, leaving black soot on her face.

“As long as I can call you my son,” she smiled at him and she watched the smile grow across his face before he wrapped his arms tightly around her neck. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” she picked him up and carried him to the bathroom.

After Howard and Maria passed, she decided to raise Tony truthfully. She wanted to honor their memory, she wanted Tony to know how amazing his parents were. Christine had to have some tough conversations with Tony when he was very young, but she believed it to be worth it.

Plus, everyone knew what happened to Howard and Maria. The public knew Tony wasn’t her child and she didn’t want to raise him as hers and then have him find out from someone else that she was lying to him. However, she did change her last name to Stark. As owner of Stark Industries and guardian to Tony, it was just easier that way. 

She was so overwhelmingly proud of Tony and who he was growing up to be. At only seven he was incredibly smart and maybe he did break the rules a little, but he was incredibly curious and inquisitive. She knew he was going to grow up to make a difference in the world. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew he would.


	11. Chapter 11

Cars rushed around Christine, people seemed to be walking just as fast. She looked around Times Square, she was surrounded by people in suits on there way to work. But something was off.

Men dressed in combat gear carrying guns ran past her, her stomach dropped to her feet -- a sign that something was wrong. She took off running, running faster than everyone else, passing the men with ease. She strained to see over everyone’s heads, trying to see what was going on but she couldn’t tell. Everyone stopped around her and she stumbled into an open space, they were circling something. She looked up and finally her eyes landed on him.

“Steve?” she whispered, stepping slowly towards him. She thought her eyes were deceiving her, but she reached out and he was there. Firm, strong, muscular. He was there and he was alive. His brows pulled together, confused.

“Do I know you?” he asked and her heart wrenched. It felt like the day he died again. 

Before she could say anything else, there was a gunshot. Steve’s hands went to his chest, blood began to spread across his shirt. His knees gave out from under him, he collapsed against her.

“Steve!” she screamed, falling to the ground with him dead in her arms.

 

“Mom! Mom, wake up,” a familiar voice yelled as someone shook her. She shot up, breathing hard and covered in sweat, her cheeks stained with tears. She gasped for breath, looking around frantically. Tony was beside her, a look of concern on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked her softly. She looked at her son, he was eighteen now. A man, no longer her little boy.

“Yeah,” she lied. “Sorry…”

“Don’t apologize,” he crawled into bed next to her. “What were you dreaming about?”

“Steve Rogers,” she breathed out.

“Well, I got that when you yelled out his name,” he chuckled. “Is there something you haven’t told me?” he asked her and she nodded. “Tell me,” he insisted, laying his head on her shoulder.

“You know that I was Dr. Erskine’s assistant and that I helped him to develop his super serum, all while being a soldier myself,” she started and he nodded. “While I was a soldier and before his transformation, Steve was my best friend. He was shy and awkward around me, not knowing how to talk to girls, but I found it charming. All of the other soldiers wanted nothing to do with me -- unless they were lonely,” she cringed. “But Steve was more than my friend... I was head over heels in love with that man.”

“Did he love you back?” he asked her and a tear escaped down her cheek.

“No, I don’t think so,” her voice cracked. “The night before his transformation, I told him how I felt about him. But, before he could respond, Peggy interrupted us and I didn’t see him again until the next day, at the lab for the experiment. After his transformation and after Dr. Erskine was shot, he told me that with everything going on, it wasn’t the right time… and I cut him off and walked - or hobbled, I was actually on crutches. But I walked away, and I avoided him. I tried so hard to not be in love with him as I watched him fall for Peggy Carter. But god, it sucked. He told me it wasn’t the right time and then he went and fell for her.”

“What a dick,” Tony whispered.

“Anthony,” she scolded him. 

“How long did it take for you to get over him?” Tony asked and another tear escaped.

“I haven’t,” she whispered and he sat up, looking at her in disbelief. 

“It’s been decades, mom,” he whispered.

“Trust me, I know,” she cried as he pulled her into a hug. “He died thinking I was mad at him, because he knew that that I was still in love with him. I basically told him after Peggy and I caught him kissing some random girl -- then I ran... I’ve tried to let him go, really, I’ve tried. But I just can’t, I don’t know how and maybe I don’t actually I want to.

“You deserve to be happy…”

“You sound just like your father,” she chuckled sadly. “All he wanted was for me to let go of Steve and to be happy.”

“I’m glad he was there for you,” Tony said and she laughed.

“He was in love with me,” she told him and his eyes doubled in size.

“What?” he breathed out.

“Oh yeah,” she chuckled. “We became really good friends while I was in the military and according to him, he fell for me before my transformation and honestly, if it wasn’t for my transformation -- I’m sure we would have ended up together after Steve died.”

“You still could have…”

“No, I couldn’t. I can’t get close to someone and fall in love with them,” she shook her head.

“Why?” he asked her sadly.

“I don’t age at the same rate as everyone else, I didn’t want to fall in love and have my heart broken again when he passed away.”

“Tell me more about Howard,” he said as he laid down next to her again.

“He was a genius and just as curious as you are. He also pushed the boundaries of science --”

“No, tell me more about him having the hots for you,” he cut her off.

“Tony!” she laughed. 

“Come on, what are the odds that my biological father would have the hots for my mom? How long do you think he had feelings for you?”

“At least five years,” she admitted.

“Fuck,” he shook his head. “You were his Steve Rogers.”

“I never thought of it like that,” she whispered. She never realized he was probably in as much pain as her. 

“Yeah, but you didn’t die and he was able to move on and marry someone else and have the coolest son ever,” he added, making her laugh.

“The best son ever,” she agreed. “I actually lived with Howard for four years after Steve died. It was only supposed to be temporary, he didn’t want me to be alone after my own transformation when I was mourning my life and Steve’s. He insisted I come stay with him and it turned into four years. I only left when I realized he was waiting for me.”

“Wow,” Tony said. 

“Your father was a great man,” she said. “He always tried to take care of me, even when I didn’t want to be taken care of. And your mother, she was just as generous and kind. I was always afraid that when Howard met someone, they’d hate me and he’d pull away from me. I thought maybe they’d be intimidated or jealous of our friendship -- but not her. Maria always called me up and invited me over, she’d insist I’d come stay the night. I think she loved me just as much as Howard did. I know I loved them.”

“I’m sorry you lost them both so suddenly,” Tony said.

“I’m sorry you never got to meet them,” she said sadly. 

“It’s a good thing you were never more than friends with Howard,” he said and she looked at him confused. “I would have never been born!” 

“This is true,” she chuckled.

“Plus, if you were never transformed, you’d look really old.”

“Hey!” she laughed. “I am not old.”

“You’re pushing seventy,” he informed her.

“Shut up,” she pushed him out of her bed.

“Are you going to be okay?” he looked up at her from the floor, a serious expression on her face. 

“I’ve been living with this for almost fifty years Tony, it’s fine,” she looked down at her hands.

“Have you tried talking to a therapist?” he asked softly and her head snapped up, her eyes pierced into his.

“I don’t need to,” her voice was stern.

“Mom-”

“That’s enough, Tony.”


	12. Chapter 12

“He’ll be okay, right?” Christine asked Rhodey.

“Yeah, he’s in the ‘fun-vee,’” he rolled his eyes, causing Christine to laugh as they left Tony’s presentation. His presentation was flawless, like everything he does. Christine was proud of her son, proud to see him striving in his role at Stark Industries. People tried to pit them against each other, Captain America’s son was creating and selling weapons. They thought that as a soldier in WWII who saw what Red Skull was doing, she should be against everything Tony was doing. Maybe it was blinded by the fact that she was his mom, but she was proud of him. 

An explosion pulled her from her thought, causing her and Rhodey to shake within the humvee. 

“Stay here,” Rhodey told her and she stared at him for a moment in disbelief.

“I’m Captain America,” she finally said before throwing the door to the vehicle open and jumping out. She grabbed her shield from the back seat, she wasn’t in her Captain America suit but she was still prepared for combat -- she always was at these things. She took off running towards the humvee she knew Tony was in. They were under attack. 

She called out Tony’s name, unable to find him. She pulled her gun from her waistband, shooting in the direction of the enemy. A grenade rolled near her and she threw her shield on top of it before rolling away from it. A few years ago, they found just enough Vibranium to make a shield for her -- just like Steve’s. 

“Where’s Tony?” she asked over the comms.

“You can’t find him?” Rhodey said over the comms.

“He’s not with you?” her heart stopped. 

“No, but the enemy has ceased fire,” he informed her. She grabbed her shield before running to every humvee, searching inside for Tony. She searched in every humvee, behind every rock, in every pile of sand. She ran around the desert for hours before collapsing to the ground. 

A sob shook through her, she screamed his name, her heart shattered. Her son, her world... was gone. He was her everything, all that she had, and he was gone. He was missing. She laid there in the sand, her body shaking from the sobs, screaming out in pain. She felt someone take her into their arms and she fought them, not wanting to be held.

“Shh,” she heard Rhodey. “I promise I will find him, Chris, I promise,” he said to her and she sobbed into his chest. “But we need to go, whoever attacked us can come back any minute.”

“Not without Tony,” she cried.

“It’s not safe, we will come back, I promise,” he told her as he picked her up, carrying to his humvee. He put her in the backseat with a female soldier who wrapped a blanket around her, trying her hardest to comfort the heartbroken mother. 

_Everyone I love dies._

 

Months. Tony has been missing for months. Christine and Rhodey searched for him every single day, Christine insisted on setting up a camp near where he went missing. She searched the desert from morning until dark, all while her cheeks were stained with tears. She refused to lose Tony, she was determined to find her son. 

She ran through the sand, her eyes scanning the desert around her. Rhodey flew in a helicopter above her, watching for Tony but also watching over her -- even though he wouldn’t admit it.

“How are you doing down there, Chris?” he asked over the comms.

“Peachy,” she said between breaths. The heat overwhelmed her, she kept pushing herself to run even more, even when her body said to stop.

“Should we call it a day?” he asked her.

“Not yet,” she insisted, it wasn’t dark yet. She pushed herself to run farther, searching the sand for something, anything.

Then she saw something -- a figure in the distance. She blinked several times, thinking the heat was playing games with her vision. But the figure was still there and she ran as fast as she possibly could towards it. The figure was moving, waving their arms in the air. 

“Hey!” the figure yelled and she recognized that voice. 

“Tony,” she yelled as she pushed herself to run faster. His legs collapsed underneath him and she scooped him into her arms. She kept repeating his name as she cried, holding him close to her.

“Mom,” he whispered.

“Rhodey, I have him,” she whispered over the comms and she could hear the helicopter land nearby. She pulled away from him, looking him over. He was pale and covered in cuts and bruises. Then she saw it, something glowing from his chest and she gasped. 

“Tony, Tony what happened? What is that?” she cried.

“It’s what’s keeping me alive,” he breathed out.

“We need to get you to a hospital,” she insisted as Rhodey ran over to them.

“Tony,” he breathed out when he saw him. “Next time, you ride with me,” he told him and Tony nodded. They were all crying -- tears of joy, relief, fear. Rhodey and Christine supported Tony on each side, helping him to the helicopter. 

 

“To the hospital,” Christine said to Rhodey.

“No, we have to go to McDonalds,” Tony said.

“What?” Christine exclaimed.

“All I want is a cheeseburger and a press conference,” he told her and she sat there for a moment in disbelief before nodding. She wasn’t going to argue with him or press him, she was just happy to have him home and she would do anything for him in this moment.

She pulled him into her arms again, breathing a sigh of relief.

“You need a cheeseburger, too,” he said and she looked at him confused. “You’ve lost too much weight.” 

“I tried, Tony,” Rhodey said from the front seat. “I tried to get her to eat, to take care of herself. But I rarely could get her out of the desert, she wouldn’t stop searching. Wouldn’t stop running.”

“I thought I lost you,” she whispered to him.

“I’m right here,” he assured her, pulling her into a hug. 

“I should be comforting you,” she laughed sadly as he wiped away one of her tears.

“We both need it.”


	13. Chapter 13

Christine couldn’t get over it, her son was Iron Man. She always knew that he would grow up to make a difference in the world, but she never imagined this. She never thought there would be a day where they fought side by side, saving the world. But that day was here and the public absolutely loved it.

**“Mother and Son Save the World Again!”  
“Captain America and Iron Man Save the Day!”**

Their faces covered magazines, outlets were constantly reaching out to them for interviews. Christine hadn’t experienced this much interest in her since she was first transformed. Which, was how she liked it. But Tony was the opposite of her. He loved being the center of attention, he loved being in the public’s eye -- it fueled him. She couldn’t help but to wonder how that came to be, they were always so private when he was growing up. 

She looked up from her laptop and glanced over at him, working on one of his suits. 

“If we change this line of code here, it will work,” she told him and he came around the table to glance over her shoulder.

“Brilliant,” he confirmed and watched as she typed out a new line of code. She was even smarter now than in the forties when she worked alongside Erskine. Throughout the decades, she continued to study and evolve with technology -- she had nothing else to do. Her time was preoccupied with books and she took years of classes at universities when she wasn’t in combat, helping to establish S.H.I.E.L.D. or watching over Tony. She had a few Ph.D.’s at this point -- engineering, biology, medicine, computer sciences and several master’s degrees as well. Seventy years is a long time and science and learning have always been her passion. It was one of the few things from her past that she could hold onto in her present. 

Tony returned to his suit and she hovered over his shoulder, fascinated by his work. She listened to him talk to himself, nodding as he worked through his thought process. Occasionally, she’d chime in with her own thought and it would inspire another thought in him. They worked well together, bouncing ideas and opinions between them, often finishing each others thought. They were practically one when they worked. 

Plus it helped to distract her, it helped to busy her mind. When she was alone, her mind would begin to wander. Wander to the past seventy years, wander to the moments of loss in her life. Her mind loved to focus on all of the people she had lost: Howard, Mariah, Chester… Steve. It always came back to Steve. 

She still held onto his memory, held his memory close to her, refusing to let it go. She fell in love with him and she could not bring herself to fall out of love with him. She was in love with that sweet kid from Brooklyn that was shy, stuttered over his words, and blushed constantly. The Steve before the transformation, her Steve. 

“Where’d you go, mom?” Tony’s voice cut through Christine’s thoughts when he noticed her staring off into space. “The forties?” 

“Yeah,” she sighed. Tony was the only one brave enough to talk about Steve with her. Everyone else avoided his name, refused to let it slip from their lips. But Tony knew better, he knew that Christine needed to talk about it. She refused to go to therapy, so he appointed himself as her therapist and forced her to talk to him. Especially since her episode, which he blamed himself for.

After his kidnapping, when he first returned, he was obsessed with creating his Iron Man suit. Blueprints and codes consumed his thoughts, it was all he could focus on. And although Christine was smarter than even him, he was insistent on doing this on his own. He felt like he had to.

So, Christine stayed out of the lab. She was still overwhelmed with emotion from what happened to her son, so overwhelmed that she couldn’t even bring herself to get out of bed. Her mind went to a dark place, a place where her son could have died -- just like everyone else she had ever cared about. Her mind went in circles -- Steve’s death, everything she gave up, Chester, Maria, and Howard’s death, almost losing Tony. It’s all she thought about and somehow her mind always blamed herself for these things -- even though she couldn’t have stopped Chester from aging or Steve from landing that plane in the Atlantic.

But what would have happened if she would have been on that mission? What would have happened if she went anyways, defying Chester’s orders? She already knew -- she would have went down on that plane with Steve. It was who she was, she’d put everyone before her -- which is exactly why Chester wouldn’t allow her to go.

But what would have happened if she wouldn’t have cut Steve off when he rejected her? If she would have remained his friend, stayed by his side? Would he have eventually fallen for her? Would Peggy have been the invisible one?

She doubted it. Peggy was better than her in every single way.

For two months, she spiraled in her own depression, unable to get out of her own bed. Depression was no stranger to Christine. She had struggled with it for over seventy years, had gone through several episodes, just like this one. But never while having Tony in her life. 

When he eventually came up for air, when he finally finished his suit, he couldn’t believe the condition in which he found Christine. Her eyes were bruised, black and swollen from constantly crying, her cheekbones hollow, her ribs poking through her shirt. 

His heart shattered and he couldn’t believe how selfish he had been, how stupid he had been. He should have known better, he should have known she needed him. He should have known she was suffering. 

Since then, Tony pushed her to talk to him, even when she didn’t want to. About twice a week, they’d discuss some part of her past -- usually Steve. Tony hated the man, even if he was dead. He couldn’t figure out why anyone would choose someone over Christine -- and he wasn’t just being biased. He’d seen an old photo of her before her transformation, she was just as stunning then as she is now. But beyond her looks, she was the most generous, nicest, brilliant, kindest person he knew. She was the definition of perfect. 

Even when he was a kid, he never really looked up to the Steve Rogers version of Captain America -- he only looked up to her version. He insisted on having her version of the costume, of having her editions of the comics. Even as a child, he knew there was something about Steve Rogers that he just didn’t like.

“Steve?” he asked her and she nodded, embarrassed by the fact that seventy years had passed and she was still in love with this man that was never even hers. Tony tried not to let out a frustrated sigh -- he really hated this man. 

“He didn’t deserve you,” he said for the thousandth time.

“I apparently didn’t deserve him,” she shrugged.

“Well, that’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said,” he told her point blank. “The guy was an idiot for turning you down, mom. An absolute idiot. Any man would be lucky to be with you. I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world for being your son,” he smiled at her.

“Thanks, honey,” she smiled back. 

Tony is called many things; sarcastic, arrogant, a jerk and many profanities that Christine refuses to say. He is also a self branded ‘genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.’ But Christine refuses to call him these things -- because he is so much more. A goofy, loving, sweet, caring son. She felt so privileged and blessed to see this side of him, to know how special and kind he really was. The Tony Stark that the world knew was not the Tony she knew and she wished the world could see the real side of him -- but she also enjoyed keeping that side of him to herself. 

 

Her phone rang, pulling them both from their thoughts.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Christine,” a deep voice said on the other side.

“Director Fury,” she stifled a laugh when Tony rolled his eyes.

“We need you to come to the New York base, now,” he told her.

“Is everything okay?”

“We’ll talk when you get here,” he hung up the phone and she looked to Tony, both confused.

“What’s eyepatch want?” he asked her.

“We need to go in, now.”


	14. Chapter 14

Happy was waiting for them outside, holding the door for them as they piled into the back of the car.

“I really don’t appreciate jumping just because Fury said so,” Tony said as they began driving through the city.

“Tony, he’s the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., we report to him,” she shook her head.

“As a founder, he should be reporting to you,” Tony pointed out.

“You know that I don’t want that.”

“And why not?”

“I’d rather be in a lab, building and creating, studying and experimenting. It’s more rewarding for me, it’s what I’ve always enjoyed. It’s what I did in the war, alongside Erskine and then your father.” 

“What is going on?” Tony mumbled as he looked out the window. 

“We’re not able to go anywhere,” Happy told him and without thinking, Christine jumped out of the vehicle. Everyone was heading towards Time Square and she took off running. She recognized a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in full combat attire. Her breath caught in her throat, her stomach fell to her feet, her palms started to sweat. It felt like she wasn’t breathing as she pushed herself to run faster.

_Is this just another dream?_

Everyone around her stopped and she stumbled past them, trying to slow down herself. When she stopped, everyone was circling her -- except it wasn’t her they were all standing around.

This had to be a dream, this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real, it was impossible.

“Steve…” she breathed out. Was she hallucinating? Was he really there? She actually pinched herself to make sure this was no dream.

Slowly, she stepped towards him. Her hands shook as she reached out, touching his arm. Strong and firm, his skin warm against hers -- he was real. This wasn’t a dream, this was real and her mind couldn’t process the fact that the love of her life was standing in front of her -- seventy years after he disappeared into the sea. 

“Christine?” he whispered, his brows were furrowed together as he looked at her. He shook his head at the thought.

“It can’t be…” he breathed out. He looked around him, realizing he wasn’t in 1942 anymore. “You must be her granddaughter.”

“No, Steve,” her voice broke. “It’s me, it’s Christine,” tears welled in her eyes and without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms, relieved to find some piece of his past.

“Christine, what’s going on? When did you get so tall?” he whispered as he held her tight to him, clinging on to the only thing he recognized. 

“You’ve been asleep, Cap,” Christine heard Fury’s voice from behind her. “For almost seventy years.” She pulled away from Steve, turning towards Fury.

“What the hell is going on, Fury?” she hissed, surprising herself, Tony, and Steve.

“We found Steve in the ice a few months ago, we’ve just been waiting for him to wake up,” Fury told her.

“And you didn’t tell me?” she seethed.

“Why would I tell you when there was a chance he might not wake up?” Fury asked her.

“I’m a scientist, I could have figured out a wa-”

“You were too close to the matter, we couldn’t risk it,” he said and Tony walked up to Christine.

“It’s okay, mom,” he whispered. “Lets not do this right now, I think Steve is sort of freaking out.” She turned around to see Steve looking overwhelmed. “I’ll tell Fury that we are taking him with us,” Tony said and she nodded before walking back over to Steve.

“Why don’t you come back to my place, we’ll talk?” she suggested and he nodded, not knowing where else he would go. He was still looking around in disbelief, his senses overwhelmed. This was not the New York he knew. Christine took his hand in hers, pulling him back to reality. She guided him through the square, past the spectators and towards Stark Tower. She could hear people whispering, saying their names.

It was only a few blocks away, a quick walk. They were silent as they walked, as Steve took everything in. Tony walked behind them, a folder from Fury in his hand.

Silence continued to hang over them as they rode the elevator in the tower. They were all in disbelief, none of them knew what to say or even think.

“Wow,” Steve breathed out as he looked out the window, admiring the view. Tony handed Christine the folder, knowing she’d make better sense of everything than him. She flipped through Steve’s records, reading over everything quickly as Steve continued to look out the window at this new Manhattan.

“So, this is Stark Tower,” Christine finally said when she was done and Steve turned towards her and Tony. “Originally built by Howard, enhanced by Tony. This is Tony, my son,” she gestured to Tony and he extended a hand towards Steve.

“Your son?” he asked, his eyes wide as he took his hand. “You and Howard?” 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, blushing a deep shade of red. “Oh no, not at all. He’s not biologically my son -- it’s a long story and maybe we should start at the beginning?” she talked quickly and anxiously. Steve nodded and she gestured for him to sit on the couch then joined him. 

“Christine, how are you still alive? Why do you look different?” he asked her. “That man said I’ve been asleep for seventy years…”

“That’s actually a good place to start,” she took a deep breath. “After we thought you died, they found some of the super serum hidden in Erskine’s apartment. Apparently, I was Erskine’s first choice for the experiment, but because I was a woman, they couldn’t use me. But after finding the serum, they honored his wishes and used the serum on me. Unbeknownst to me, the serum slows down the aging process. Although I’m technically ninety one, I’ve probably only aged two -- maybe three -- years. My cell turnover rate is so -- well, the science of it doesn’t actually matter, right now.”

“Still a scientist?” his smile was soft and it gave her butterflies. 

“A scientist, doctor, mechanical engineer and computer engineer…” Tony began to ramble, proud of his mother’s accomplishments.

“Wow,” Steve breathed out. 

“And Captain America,” Tony added and Steve looked at her, shocked.

“Someone had to pick up the mantle,” she shrugged and Steve looked over at Tony, still confused by Christine calling him her son. “Oh, anyway, after you died and I realized what all I gave up due to my transformation... I was in a really dark place. But, Howard was there for me. He refused to leave me alone, he actually insisted I stay with him while I grieved and that turned into me living with him for four years. He was my best friend.”

“Why’d you move out?” he asked, confused.

“My dad apparently had the hots for her,” Tony added and she smacked him playfully.

“Howard did want to be something more than friends, but I didn’t, and I didn’t want to lead him on,” she told him and Tony took Christine’s hand in hers, knowing that she had to be overwhelmed. “Eventually, he did move on and married Tony’s mother, Maria. They were both my best friends, they were always there for me. We were all inseparable -- but when Tony was still less than a year old, they were in a car accident,” her voice cracked. “Although it was one of the darkest days of my life and I miss them both every day, they left Tony in my custody and I gained the son I had always wanted but couldn’t have.”

“Wow,” Steve breathed out. “I can’t imagine what the last seventy years were like for you.”

“Hard,” Tony said and Christine squeezed his hand, warning him. 

“I can’t imagine,” Steve shook his head. 

“I’m going to go order us some take out,” Tony dismissed himself. “You like pizza, Cap?”

“Yeah,” Steve shrugged as Tony left the room.

“So, what all do you know?” Christine asked him.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “I woke up in this room that kind of looked like it was in the forties, but they had this baseball game playing on the radio -- one that I was actually at. So, I knew something wasn’t right. I didn’t know who had me or what was going on, so I ran. That’s when you found me.”

“According to your file, they found you four months ago, which would explain why S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn’t been contacting me,” she rolled her eyes. “They found you so well preserved in the ice that they hypothesized that you would actually wake up -- and here you are,” she shook her head, still in disbelief. She couldn’t believe he was sitting in her living room, that he was alive. For the past seventy years, she mourned his life, dreamed of this day. But she thought it would only ever be a dream, that it would never happen.

“Christine…” he whispered when he noticed her eyes welling up.

“Sorry,” her voice cracked as she wiped away her tears. “I just never thought I’d see you again.”

“I never thought I’d survive that crash,” he shook his head in disbelief.

“It’s a miracle,” she breathed out. She wanted nothing more than to pull him into a hug, to never let him go -- but she couldn’t do that. 

“So, can I ask something?” Steve said and she nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Why didn’t you give Howard a chance? Or ever marry in general? I noticed you’re not wearing a ring…”

“Why would I?” she shrugged, her voice sad. “Do you know how many people I have watched grow old and die around me? Chester, Howard, Maria… one day Tony,” her voice cracked at the thought. “He’s already biologically older than me… It’s why I never looked for someone, it’s why I never wanted to have kids,” she shook her head. “I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t handle heartbreak -- so I stopped putting myself in situations where I could be left heartbroken. Except for Tony -- I fell in love with that baby the second Howard handed him to me and I am grateful every day that I can call him my son, but I am so scared to lose him. I almost did,” she wiped away a stray tear.

“I noticed something glowing…” Steve pointed to his chest and Christine nodded.

“It keeps him alive,” she breathed out. “He was kidnapped, tortured for his brilliance. There’s shrapnel inching towards his heart, the reactor keeps him alive.”

“Wow,” he said again, shaking his head. “Sorry, this is all --”

“A lot,” she finished for him and he nodded. “It’s okay, I grew up with this world. You have missed a lot, I understand.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

“What all do you want to know?” she asked him.

“You mentioned you and Howard were friends, what about Peggy?” he asked and it felt like someone just stomped on her heart.

“We didn’t keep in touch. All I know is that she met someone and they got married, had children and eventually grandchildren,” she told him, her voice quieter than before. 

“Really?” he sounded surprised.

“We weren’t really close,” she shrugged. “Plus, after my transformation, I didn’t really let anyone in. The more people I let in, the more people I would lose.”

“That had to be lonely,” he said and she shrugged again. 

“I survived,” she laughed sadly.

“Surviving isn’t living.”


	15. Chapter 15

Steve couldn’t believe that Christine was here, that she was alive -- that she was still in her young twenties. She looked exactly the same, even after the transformation -- but something was different, unfamiliar. There was a sadness in her eyes that he didn’t remember being there before, her spark was gone, her personality was more solemn. This wasn’t the Christine he knew.

“I’m really grateful that you are here,” he smiled at her. “I’m going to need a friend through all of this.”

“Ouch,” he heard Tony say as he entered the room. Steve’s brows furrowed together in confusion.

“The pizza man is coming up the elevator,” a robotic voice said, causing Steve to jump -- making Tony snicker.

“What was that?” Steve looked around the room, panicked.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., Just a rather, very intelligent system,” Tony said as he waltzed over to the elevator, a smirk on his face.

“He’s an artificial intelligent home computing system. He’s completely wired throughout the house and he is also wired into and helps to operate Tony’s suits,” Christine explained.

“Suits?” Steve asked confused.

“I’ll show you later,” Tony smirked as he returned with multiple pizzas. “Capsicle, I assumed that you’d eat a lot because I know mom does.”

“Hey,” Christine laughed. “I have a heightened metabolism,” she said as she took an entire pizza from him. He handed another one to Steve and set boxes of cheese sticks out on the coffee table before setting down with his own pizza. Christine opened the box revealing her favorite: pineapple and ham.

“Capsicle, I just got you pepperoni, I didn’t know what you preferred,” Tony told him.

“This is perfect, thank you, Tony,” he smiled as he dug in. Tony glanced over at Christine, trying to read her expressions but she had a mask on -- hiding everything she felt.

“Steve, I’m sure S.H.I.E.L.D. has arranged accomodations for you at their headquarters, but you’re more than welcome to stay here with us, we have more than enough room,” Christine offered when they were all done eating. 

“I don’t want to impose --”

“Steve,” she said seriously. “Come on, I’ve thought you were dead for over seventy years, this isn’t just for you,” she told him honestly.

“Alright,” he smiled softly at her. Tony watched him carefully, not trusting him at all. He was afraid his mom would end up even more hurt than she already was. 

“Pepper is on her way up and she has Rebel with her,” J.A.R.V.I.S. said and a smile grew on Christine’s face.

“Who’s Rebel?” Steve asked her. 

“Just wait,” she said and the elevator dinged. The second the door opened, a big, golden blur came running towards Christine. She squealed with joy as she got on the floor to hug him.

“Oh, I missed you while you were at the groomers,” she exclaimed. “Thanks for picking him up, Pepper.”

“You’r- Oh,” she stopped in her tracks, realizing who was on the couch.

“Hi,” Steve stood out and extended a hand. Stunned, she reached out and took it. “Steve Rogers.”

“Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and girlfriend to Tony,” she managed to say. “Please, excuse us, I have some contracts Tony needs to look over” she smiled at him before grabbing Tony’s hand and leading him to the kitchen. 

“So, this is Rebel,” Christine smiled up at Steve and he crouched down to play with the Golden Retriever

“He’s beautiful,” Steve pet the long haired dog.

“He’s the best dog,” she smiled as she pet him. “He’s actually an emotional support animal…”

“Tony said it’s been hard for you…” he started and she nodded. Rebel leaned against her, knowing something was wrong. After her episode, Tony insisted they get her an emotional support animal. 

“Can you talk to me about it?” Steve asked softly and she shook her head, no. 

“I don’t think right now’s the best time,” she repeated the words he said to her decades ago, wondering if he even remembered. 

“Okay,” he sounded sad. “Will me being here make things harder…”

“No,” she lied. “I’m glad you’re here,” that was not a lie. 

She didn’t want to tell him that she spent the last seventy years mourning him, grieving over him. She didn’t want to tell him that she was still in love with him. She didn’t want to tell him about the depression that consumed her after he died. 

If she did, the guilt would eat him alive. He just woke up, she knew he was already so overwhelmed and she didn’t want to make things worse. She also didn’t want to scare him away, she was afraid he’d leave her again.

And most of all, she was afraid that if he knew how she felt about him, he’d reject her again and her heart would break for good.

“So, what do you want to do?” she asked him.

“Can we watch a movie? After seeing those screens in the city… I can’t imagine what a movie would be like.”

“That’s such a great idea,” she exclaimed. “Come on, we’ll go to the theater,” she stood up.

“You have a theater?” Steve asked in disbelief. 

“Well, ya see… I’m kind of a billionaire,” she said shyly and his jaw hit the floor.

“That’s insane,” he shook his head.

“I can’t believe it myself sometimes,” she shook her head. “Howard left me and Tony his fortune when he died, including Stark Industries. Together, Tony and I have elevated it to the number one company in green energy.”

“So, what is it that you do?” Steve asked as he followed her to the elevator. “Like exactly?”

“As a mechanical engineer, I design blueprints and patents for clean energy technology. As a computer engineer, I also help to develop the code and programming for those technologies. And as mother, I help Tony with his suits,” she laughed.

“What are these suits?” he asked confused.

“Oh, he’s Iron Man,” she told him and he looked even more confused. “We will show you, I promise,” she laughed. They entered the dark theater room, the lights coming on as they walked in. 

“JARVIS, can you start the popcorn machine and the first Harry Potter?” she said as she settled into the huge, sofa bed in the middle of the room. Steve looked around hesitantly and she laughed, patting the space next to her. She arranged the pillows around her and covered herself with a blanket as he got comfortable as well. When they were both situated, Rebel laid down next to Christine, his head in her lap.

“Tony and I have a lot of movie nights in here,” she laughed. “Make yourself comfortable, Dummy will bring us the popcorn.”

“Dummy?” 

“He’s one of the first machines Tony and I built, he’s not the best,” she shook her head. “Even though I know where in his programming went wrong, Tony won’t let me change him.” 

“So what’s Harry Potter?”

“It’s a movie about witches and wizards, there are six movies in the series, so it’ll take awhile for us to watch them but I love them so much,” she said quickly.

“Six?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes, series are a big thing now and this is based off a book. The first one came out in 2001 when the actors were just little kids so not only will you see how the effects get better over time, you’ll also see them grow up. It’s seriously the best,” she smiled and he nodded, trusting her. 

The second the movie started, he was entranced. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen and Christine couldn’t help but to glance over at him every now and then, happy to see him enjoying the movie. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell me he was alive?” Pepper asked Tony.

“Because we just found out today, Pepper,” Tony told her.

“You couldn’t take a minute to call me?”

“Pepper, I’m just trying to focus on mom right now,” he breathed out and she realized what this meant for Christine.

“How do you think she’s doing?” she asked him.

“I honestly can’t tell,” he shook his head. “She’s wearing this mask -- Steve can’t tell, but I can. She’s hiding what she’s feeling, which isn’t a good sign. I’m glad you got here with Rebel when you did,” he sighed. “I don’t trust him, Pepp.”

“Tony, I really don’t think he’ll do anything to purposefully hurt her.”

“Then I don’t trust her around him,” he snapped. “I don’t know what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling, what she’s going to say to him. I don’t know what she thinks going to happen now that he’s back. I don’t know what she expects and I don’t want her to get her hopes up. You know she’s still in love with him, she always has been. She probably always will be -- even though he rejected her seventy years ago. She can’t let him go,” he threw the glass he was holding across the room, causing Pepper to jump. “She has spent the last seventy years of her life drowning in her own depression because of this man and he just waltzed back into her life. Any progress she has ever made just flew out the fucking window. I swear to god, if he rejects her again -”

“What? You’re going to kill Captain America?” she raised her brow.

“My mother is Captain America,” he seethed. “Not him.”

“She might not be anymore, now that he’s back,” Pepper told him. 

“I’ll kick his patriotic ass if he tries to take that from her,” he growled and Pepper shook her head and left the room. There was no getting through to Tony when he was like this.


	16. Chapter 16

Christine woke up, sandwiched between two things she couldn’t quite make out. She recognized the soft fur against her as Rebel’s, the sweet dog snored softly. But it was the other form that was pressed against her that she couldn’t quite make out. It was too firm to be Tony. 

Her eyes shot open at the realization that it was Steve. It wasn’t a dream, he was really alive and the two of them binge watched three of the Harry Potter movies last night. She looked at her phone, it was the next day. They must have fell asleep during the third one.

Careful not to wake Steve, Christine rolled out of the bed gently and Rebel followed her closely as she ran from the theater. Her mind was racing a mile a minute as she bolted up the staircase. Steve was really alive, he was really here. Her heart pounded in her chest -- and not from running. 

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize that Tony was even in the hallway until she ran into him. He caught her in his arms, stopping her from running anymore. Panic was written clearly across her face and he sighed, taking her hand and leading her to her suite.

When they arrived, she threw herself down in her couch, her head in her hands.

“What’d I miss?” he asked her as he sat down across from her.

“We fell asleep watching Harry Potter,” she told him. That’s not what he was interested in.

“How are you doing?”

“Great,” her voice was shaky as she spoke. She struggled to comprehend everything that she was feeling in this minute.

“Mom…”

“Is he really here? Am I really awake?” her voice cracked and Tony nodded. “I’m just waiting for the ball to drop, waiting to hear what the catch is. It’s just too good to be true, Tony.”

“He’s here, mom, and he’s living in our house with us.”

“I know,” she threw herself back onto the couch. “Steve Rogers is alive and living with us.”

“What are you feeling?” he moved so that he was beside her. He wanted to offer as much support as he could, he knew she needed it.

“Overwhelmed,” she breathe out. “Overwhelmed by so many feelings. Anger for Fury not telling me. Shock, surprise and disbelief that he’s really here. An overwhelming sense of happiness because Tony, he’s really here. After seventy years, he is here and he is healthy and alive. I’ve dreamt of this day for decades, Tony. But at the same time, I’m anxious and scared. What if he were to disappear again? What if he realized I still had feeling for him and didn’t feel the same so he distanced himself from me? I couldn’t stand losing him again, Tony. I don’t think I can survive it again. Also, am I still Captain America?”

“You damn well better be,” Tony said, making her laugh. “Are you going to tell him how you feel?”

“Oh no,” she shook her head. “He just woke up, Tony. He has enough to deal with.”

“And you’re scared.”

“Like I said, I really don’t think I could survive losing him again.

“I don’t think you would be either,” Tony was honest with her.

“I’m just glad to have my friend back, Tony,” she turned towards him. “He was my friend at one point. And it’s someone from my past, in the same condition I am… It’s such a relief to know that I don’t have to age alone.”

“I bet,” he smiled sadly at her. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be careful,” she whispered and he nodded, having no choice but to believe her. 

 

“Christine?” Steve called out, his voice deep from sleep. He looked around the theater, she was nowhere to be seen. Last night, he watched her as she fell asleep during the third movie and he eventually fell asleep as well, but during the credits. The movies were astonishing, he was unable to believe how they’ve evolved since the forties.

“Rebel?” he called out, discovering that he was alone. “JARVIS?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Captain Rogers?” the voice answered him.

“Where is everyone?”

“In the kitchen, Captain Rogers.”

“And where is that?” 

“The 39th floor,” the voice informed him and Steve removed himself from the sofa bed, heading to the elevator. When he reached the 39th floor, he followed the sound of laughter until he found Christine and Tony in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Christine greeted Steve. She was rolling out dough while Tony mixed something together. 

“Morning,” Steve smiled. 

“We’re making cinnamon rolls,” she informed him. “There’s coffee in the pot and creamer in the fridge,” she gestured towards each of them as Tony handed him a mug. The thought of hot, black coffee made him smile and he helped himself to some before sitting on the other side of the kitchen island they were working at. 

“Mom told me that the first movie she made you watch was Harry Potter,” Tony rolled his eyes.

“It was really good,” Steve exclaimed.

“Ha,” Christine smirked in Tony’s direction.

“Oh come on, the last movie he saw was probably ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’” Tony laughed.

“Dumbo, actually,” Steve smiled. 

“Oh, we have to watch all of the Disney movies that have come out since then,” Christine exclaimed.

“How are you ninety years old and have the movie taste of a child,” Tony teased her.

“Sometimes you just need to sit down and watch Mulan,” she exclaimed. 

“Mulan is the best,” Tony agreed as he started to spread his mixture out across her dough.

“Add that to the list, Steve,” she smiled at him and he nodded.

“And Lord of the Rings,” Tony added.

“Ha, I knew you liked those,” she smiled triumphantly.

“Don’t tell Barton, he’ll think Legolas is a term of endearment.” 

“Isn’t it?” she teased Tony. Steve couldn’t help but to smile as he watched the two of them interact. This was more of the Christine he knew in the forties, sarcastic and quick witted. All he wanted was for her to open up to him, that she would tell him about what the last seventy years have been like for her. But, he there must be a reason why she wouldn’t and he wasn’t going to press her.

She still looked like the Christine he knew, only slightly different. Large, ice blue eyes, high cheekbones, perfectly pouty lips. Her once short, black hair now stretched down her back. It was shiny and laid in soft waves across her shoulders. However, now she was quite tall and her muscles were perfectly toned for a woman. She was beautiful before the transformation and even more beautiful now. 

Steve was happy that she was here, but he couldn’t help but to feel sad for her. This wasn’t the life she was supposed to have. She wasn’t supposed to be frozen in time like this, she was supposed to have lived a full life by now. Married, kids, grandchildren. She deserved that.

But here she was, hardly any older than the day he left for his last mission. She was right, she gave up everything when she went through her transformation. That must have been what was so hard for her, he thought. 

He remembered times in the past when they were first getting to know each other, when he would still only call her ma’am, that they’d talk about what they wanted in life. That’s the thing about war, you have no filter on what you say. You never know what day will be your last, so you tend to be an open book. She always said that after the war, she could see herself settling down. She wanted to get married, have kids and remain a working wife. She didn’t want to be a housewife, she wanted a husband that would contribute to the household just as much as she did. She had plans on being a successful scientist, plans of making a difference in the world. Steve always admired her, she knew exactly what she wanted in life and wasn’t going to compromise -- but that was all taken away from her. 

He didn’t blame her for needing Rebel’s support, she’d lost a lot in her life. Her friends, her family, her own life. It was no wonder she couldn’t bring herself to talk about it. She doesn’t want to relive the pain.

Steve watched Tony and Christine carefully roll the pastry, laughing and yelling at each other as they did so. Even though she was terrified of losing him, Steve was so happy that Tony was in Christine’s life. She deserved to be a mother and Steve could tell that she was doing a fantastic job.

“There!” Christine exclaimed when they rolled the dough into a perfect log. “It took two people with several PhD’s between the two of them, but we did it,” she laughed. Steve admired her laugh, it hadn’t changed a bit.

“Now we have to cut them,” Tony reminded her and she sighed.

“This is where we’ll screw up,” she laughed as she grabbed the knife. Steve watched her carefully cut the log into rolls, measuring each of them first so they were all the same width. When all of the rolls were in the pan, she victoriously put them in the oven and set the timer. 

“Way to go, team,” she high fived Tony, making Steve laugh.

“So Steve,” Christine leaned on the kitchen island across from him. “Our stylist is coming over after lunch to bring you some new clothes.”

“I don’t have any money,” Steve’s eyes doubled in size at the thought, making Tony laugh. Steve’s mind started spinning, how was he going to make it in this new world?

“I’m going to take care of it,” Christine assured him, resting her hand on his. 

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Steve shook his head. He couldn’t help but to focus on her warm hand on his.

“You didn’t ask,” Christine smiled. “I want to, don’t worry about it. Happy already went out and bought you some toiletries and some more sweats and plain t-shirts, so you’re more than welcome to go and shower now or after breakfast, which will be about twenty minutes.”

“I don’t really know where my room is,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I probably should have showed you that,” Christine laughed. “Tony, watch the cinnamon rolls and start working on the frosting. This way, Steve,” she called behind her, singing his name. Like the lost puppy he was, he followed her out of the kitchen.

“Hey Chris,” he called after her. “Do you think you could give me a tour of this place? I don’t really know how to get around.”

“Oh yes! Of course!” she exclaimed. “I really should have done that already. So, the top ten floors - minus the penthouse - are where Tony and I work, they’re for research and development.”

“Wow,” Steve said as they got in the elevator. She gave him a run down of the different types of floors they had within the tower as well as what was where. He tried to keep track of it all, but it made his head spin.

“I might need a map,” Steve shook his head as they got off the elevator. 

“I’ll write you a cheat sheet,” she laughed. “So this is your suite, it’s not really decorated but it is furnished. It’s basically an apartment. Like I said, we have numerous suite style floors for anyone that might need a place to stay. But it’s only ever been me, Tony, and Pepper on occasion. All of the suites have a master suite, huge walk-in closet, a spacious living area and really nice kitchen, and an office space.”

“This is so nice,” he walked into the space, looking around in awe. 

“There’s just the bare minimum furniture in here now, we can get you new stuff if you want. The mattress, furniture, and all appliances are brand new, the tower is pretty new in general.”

“Thank you, Christine, this is amazing,” he looked around. “I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Just don’t leave again,” she said softly, her eyes were full of heartache. The look in her eyes knocked the air out of him. Perhaps it wasn’t her own life that she wasn’t mourning all of this time. 

“Christine,” he whispered under his breath, taking her hand in his and leading her to the couch.

“My death was really hard on you, wasn’t it?” he asked. All she could do was nod, she didn’t want to open about this, it was too soon.

“Before your transformation, you were really the only friend I had, Steve,” she told him.

“You were the only friend I had, too,” he smiled sadly at her. An overwhelming sense of anger flooded through her and she tried her best to control it.

“Then you changed,” she stated. He could see the pain in her eyes change from sorrow to anger. “I lost you once when you transformed and then again when you died.”

“Christine, you avoided me, pushed me away,” his eyebrows furrowed together, confused. She couldn’t help but to laugh, to actually laugh.

“Do you really not know why?” she asked him. “Have you forgotten that you rejected me, Steve? The night before your transformation, I confessed to you that I had feelings for you and then after your transformation, you told me it wasn’t the right time.” 

“It wasn’t,” he whispered and she stood up, laughing again.

“Honestly, that would have been fine if that was truly the case. I could have understood that, I could have learned to be okay with it. **But then, you started to date Peggy.** You told me it wasn’t the right time and then you immediately started to date someone else. It wasn’t the right time for me, but it was for Peggy? God, Steve. Do you realize how much it pained me to realize that you weren’t turning me down because we were going to war, but because you just didn’t like me? That you’d rather be with Peggy? I mean, of course you’d rather be with her. Why be with Christine when you could be with _Peggy,_ ” she hissed the name, backing up towards the stairwell. “Nevermind the fact that she did nothing but insult you before your transformation. Ya know, I already thought that she was better than me, prettier than me -- but to have it confirmed right in front of me was an awful feeling,” her voice cracked. Her back was now pressed again the door to the stairwell, her hands on the knob.

“Then you died,” she whispered before pushing the door open and escaping up the stairs. Tony was in the kitchen removing the cinnamon rolls from the oven when she ran in. 

“What the hell happened?” he asked as she threw herself into his arms. She didn’t say anything as she clung to him desperately. Cursing under his breath, he picked her up and carried her to the elevator, taking her to his suite. 

“What happened?” he whispered as he settled onto his couch with her. It took some prying, but she eventually told Tony exactly what she said to Steve. 

 

Steve sat there stunned and cursing himself. He realized that he was an idiot, an absolute idiot that still didn’t know a damn thing about women.

Christine was right, he did try to tell her that right just wasn’t the right time to start a relationship. But she didn’t know why, she didn’t know that he had wanted to. Of course he had feelings for Christine, he developed a crush on her the moment he saw her. But after his transformation, he thought he was about to become a soldier on the frontlines of the war. If he had known that he was about to become the military’s circus clown, that he’d only act as a soldier, he would have taken her into his arms and kissed her, right in the middle of the lab. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, he was trying to protect her. Afterwards, he assumed that she was over him. But by assuming, he just made an ass out of himself. 

It wasn’t until she saw him kiss that girl that he realized she wasn’t over him. Christine was never one that could hide her emotions, her doe eyes always gave her away. But before he could say anything, she ran.

Seventy some years later, she still hadn’t learned how to hide how she was feeling. Her large, doe eyes still gave her away. That same look was there, a combination of heartbreak and something else he didn't recognize.


	17. Chapter 17

Steve didn’t leave his suite the rest of the day, mortified by his own actions. After what she said, what she reminded him of… he couldn’t bring himself to face Christine. Honestly, he was surprised that she has been so nice to him since he woke up, he didn’t deserve her kindness. 

Pepper came down to see him eventually, bringing cinnamon rolls and lunch with her. They chatted for awhile before Christine’s stylist arrived. Pepper helped him to pick out clothes, telling him what was in style. She noticed that he gravitate more towards button ups, jackets and khakis. To help him out, she insisted he pick out some basic t shirts as well and a few modern pieces.

Steve was grateful for Pepper’s house, but her being there just confirmed that Christine was avoiding him.

Meanwhile, Christine laid in bed with Tony and Rebel, spending the day eating the cinnamon rolls they made and watching movies.

“I’m glad you told him,” Tony told her as they finished their fourth movie that day.

“I’m humiliated,” she shook her head.

“It’s better that he knows he’s an idiot than for him to be an idiot who has no idea he’s an idiot,” Tony said and she groaned, burying her face into his chest. “It really is for the best that he knows.”

“But I didn’t mean to have a meltdown less than 24 hours after he woke up.”

“Well, you’ve been bottling up a lot of feelings for the last seventy years and the person that caused those feelings is finally here for you to yell at.”

“God, I did yell,” she groaned again. 

“I think Steven and I need to have a talk,” Tony said and Christine bolted up.

“No,” she said sternly.

“Yes,” he insisted.

“Tony-” she started.

“Less than twenty-four hours and you are already crying, Mom,” he pointed out. “I’m not going to standby and watch you be miserable.”

“What would you even say?” she sighed.

“I don’t know, I like to wing it,” he smirked.

“I can’t stop you, can I?” she arched her brow and he jumped out of bed. “Right now!?”

“I’m not busy,” he shrugged before walking out of his bedroom. Tony practically skipped down the stairs to Steve’s suite.

“Ooh, Steven,” he sang as he swung the door to his suite open, startling Steve, who was sitting at his dining room table. 

“Steve,” he corrected him. The guy looked like crap, Tony thought to himself. 

“Great, so Steven,” Tony started. “I heard that my mom left you with some things to ponder.”

“Yeah,” he breathed out. “She told you?”

“Oh, Steven, she tells me everything,” he smiled wickedly at Steve. “Because she has to. Because if she doesn’t, her mind starts to spiral out of control and she slips into one of her episodes -- because she suffers from depression. And one time, I was selfish and I hid away in my lab for two months to work on this,” he tapped on the reactor in his chest. “I was too consumed in my work to realize that two months went by and I hadn’t seen or spoke to her -- and she was in this same building as me. Do you know where she was?” He asked Steve, who shook his head. 

“In her bed, for two months. Not moving, not eating, her eyes were black from how much she had been crying, her ribs were starting to poke through her shirt. I had to force her to eat, I had to force her into the gym, **I had to force my mother to live because she never got over you,** ” he yelled, leaning over the table, hands planted onto the table and Steve looked down at his hands. 

“No, look at me when I talk to you. Look at me while I tell you all of this because it is your fault,” Tony punched the table, making Steve jump. “And you might not like hearing that, might not like hearing how you ruined seventy years of her life. You’re so used to being the good guy, so used to being America’s golden boy, the fucking hero -- but guess what, that’s not your role in this house. It’s actually quite the opposite --”

“I was trying to protect her when I turned her down,” Steve finally cut him off, his gaze hard.

“Excuse me?” Tony asked him. “In what world was that you protecting her?”

“The whole point of the experiment was to create a super soldier, someone that would lead armies through combat. After my transformation, I thought that was going to be my life. I thought that I was about to go out and be on the front lines, I thought that I was going to end up dying out there,” he stood up, leaning over the table to look Tony in the eye. “So, I told Christine that right now wasn’t a good time, because I didn’t want to start a relationship with her and then **die.** I didn’t want to leave her heartbroken -- despite the fact that I had feelings for her too, despite the fact that I was already falling for her. **I didn’t want to break her heart.** ”

“ _Then why did you start dating Peggy,_ ” Tony hissed, leaning farther over the table.

“ _I didn’t,_ ” Steve growled. “It was a publicity stunt, the media absolutely loved it so the military capitalized on it. That clip of her picture in my compass? That was an advertisement for that company to promote their compasses.”

“Holy fuck,” Tony whispered as he sat down, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Yeah,” Steve breathed out, sitting down himself. “When my plane went down… it was Christine’s picture that I had in my hand,” Steve slid a picture across the table to Tony. It was a picture of both Christine and Steve, before their transformations. They were both small but about the same size as each other, both in their training clothes. Christine’s arm was thrown across Steve’s shoulders, a huge smile on her face. Steve stood in the photo awkwardly, his gaze directed at Christine, not the camera, a slight smile on his face.

“Did Peggy have real feelings for you?” Tony asked him.

“She did,” Steve told him. “But she also knew that I didn’t have feelings for her, I was completely honest with her. I didn’t want to do the publicity stunt, but she insisted that we do it so I went along with it.”

“Christine had no idea,” Tony shook his head. 

“I thought she was over me,” Steve told him.

“Quite the opposite, buddy,” Tony told him. Steve shook his head, he didn’t know what to say or what to do -- and neither did Tony.

“Steve,” Tony eventually said and he looked up, meeting Tony’s stern gaze. “Do not tell Christine any of this unless you fully intend on being more than friends with her. I think it would do more harm than good.”

“Okay,” Steve agreed. “Tony, I never wanted to hurt her.”

“I believe you,” Tony said. “I still don’t like you.”

“Tony-”

“ **Seventy years,** ” Tony said and Steve sighed, remaining silent. “Do you still have feelings for her?” Tony eventually asked him.

“Well, for me, the forties were only like two days ago,” Steve said, playing with his hands nervously.

“Well I’ll be...” Tony smirked. “Just remember, if you hurt her, I will bury your ass back in the ice,” he threatened before getting up to leave. Tony stopped himself, sighing.

“Just take things slow, Steve-- really think things over before acting on anything,” he told him and Steve nodded. “And you should probably apologize, be her friend right now -- you both need each other.” Tony left Steve’s suite, heading back up to his own.

“Well?” Christine asked as soon as Tony entered the room. “What’d you say to him?”

“We just exchanged some pleasantries,” Tony lied.

“Tony…”

“I told him that you both should move on from the past and be friends again,” he continued to lie. “You are both going to be around for awhile and I think you both could use a friend through it.”

“Thanks, Tony,” she smiled sadly at him. “I should probably go apologize to him.” 

“No,” Tony shook his head. “Let him come to you.” 

“Do we have any leftover pizza?” she asked him randomly, making him chuckle.

“Yes, and cheese bread,” he told her.

“I think I’m going to go get some, take Rebel on a walk and then retreat to my own room,” she told him.

“You can stay here,” Tony insisted.

“Wouldn’t you rather have Pepper in your bed than your mother?” she laughed.

“I don’t want to leave you alone right now,” Tony said sadly.

“I’m okay, I promise,” she told him. He couldn’t tell if she was telling the truth or not. 

“Well, if you need me, use JARVIS,” he told her and she nodded before showing herself and Rebel out.

“Oh,” she jumped when she got to the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Steve turned around from the fridge, startled himself. “I was just looking to see if there was any leftover pizza.”

“Hungry?” She laughed nervously and he nodded. “I was actually pretty hungry myself and about to take Rebel on a walk. If you want to join me, we can grab some takeout on the way back?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” he smiled shyly at her. 

“I highly recommend a disguise,” she suggested and he looked at her confused. “Come on,” she laughed. He followed her down the stairs, all the way to her suite.

“Wow,” he breathed out as he looked around her suite. Christine smiled, proud of how she decorated her suite. Her theme was modern farmhouse and she mainly stuck to a black and white color palette with tons of natural elements like wood, stone and plants.

“Thanks,” she chuckled and Steve followed her through her suite and into her bedroom, then into her closet, which Steve swore was bigger than the apartment he once had in Brooklyn.

“How did your meeting with our stylist go?” she asked him as she went over to her collection of hats. When he didn’t respond, she turned around to see him staring at her wall of Captain America suits and shields, one for every decade. 

“Wow,” he breathed out. “Is this your current one?” he asked as he looked at the last mannequin.

“Yeah,” she watched and he picked up her shield, an exact copy of his.

“It’s too small to be mine, but it’s vibranium?” he furrowed his brows together confused.

“They found just enough for a shield my size,” she explained.

“This is crazy,” he shook his head as he looked at the suits. “You probably have hundreds of stories -- for each suit.”

“Not all worth telling,” she chuckled.

“I’d still like to hear them,” he turned to her.

“Maybe one day,” she smiled sadly and he nodded. She turned back to her hats, pulling one down low to hide her face then pulling on a pair of glasses and a sweatshirt.

“It’s best to try to blend in with the crowd, so you don’t get stopped a million times,” she explained as he watched her. She handed him a pair of large, masculine frames that she initially bought for Tony and he put them on.

“Did you pick out any hats today?” she asked and he shook his head no. “I’m sorry, I should have been there to help..”

“It’s okay, really,” he assured her as she handed him a plain black cap.

“Rebel, bring your harness,” she told Rebel and he ran to get it then brought it back, making Steve laugh.

“What a good boy,” Steve said as Rebel stepped into his harness.

“He went through a lot of training,” she explained as they made their way to the elevator. “There are some people that do not need an emotional support animal, however they don’t want to be separated from their animal so they buy a vest off of Amazon and slap it on them and claim they are a support animal, which really hinders the image of emotional support animals. So, when Tony suggested we get a support animal, I asked that we get a fully trained service animal,” she explained as they rode the elevator down. He noticed Rebel leaning heavily against Christine, something Rebel did a lot. 

It was dark out, the streets of New York City were much calmer at night. He looked around, still amazed by all of the screens and billboards. 

“Christine, I wanted to apologize for how I treated you after my transformation. You really were my only friend before the experiment and I threw that all away,” he sighed. “You didn’t deserve that, and I truly am sorry. I’m sure it didn’t make the last seventy years any easier on you.”

“It didn’t,” she admitted. “But, thank you for apologizing. I’m really glad to have my friend back,” she smiled up at him and he couldn’t help but to grin. They walked a few more blocks before turning around and grabbing Chinese on the way home. 

“Rebel and I go on a run every morning at six if you want to tag along,” Christine said as they sat on her couch, eating their Chinese.

“I’d like that,” Steve smiled.

“Then I usually train in the gym for an hour or so before eating my weight in breakfast food,” she laughed.

“Can I join you in the gym as well?”

“Of course -- and for breakfast. Then, I can show you the internet,” she said excited and his eyes grew in fear. “It’ll be a long day,” she laughed.

“I don’t even know what to expect,” he told her.

“I’ll only show you the good parts,” she chuckled. “It helps that I watched technology grow and advance because I think I know how to teach it to you.”

“I still don’t know what to expect.”

“Stick with me, kid,” she smiled at him before taking a huge bite of her lo mein.


	18. Chapter 18

“This is just like the forties,” Christine laughed as she jogged backwards through Central Park.

“You have a seventy year advantage,” Steve jogged several feet behind her. He was still running faster than any normal guy could, but not quite as fast as Christine.

“Oh come on, you’re supposed to be Captain America,” she teased. She could tell she was getting under his skin and turned around, running at full force. He watched as she increased the distance between them and he swore he could hear her laughing.

“What happened to the Christine that would run slow so I wasn’t the only one falling behind,” he called after her and his words stopped her dead in her tracks, almost causing her to fall. He unintentionally hit a nerve and he ran to her, closing the distance between them.

“I was just teasing…” she whispered, looking down at her feet and he stepped closer to her.

“Hey, so was I,” he said softly. He gently placed a finger under her chin, raising it slightly so she would look at him.

“I was just kidding, Chris. I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m sorry,” he mentally kicked himself as he noticed Rebel leaning heavily against Christine. Rebel’s nose nudged at her hand, trying to get her attention. He knew he upset her. 

“It’s okay,” she shrugged. 

“No, it’s not,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just... In my mind, we were those kids in training just two years ago. But for you, it’s been over seventy years and a lot has happened to you since then.”

“I just don’t want you to think I’m not the same person that you were friends with,” her voice was barely above a whisper.

“If you weren’t, I don’t think you would have invited me into your home even though it’s upsetting you,” he said softly and she looked up at him, a slight look of panic in her eyes. 

“Christine, I can see Rebel trying to comfort you, I can tell that you’re emotionally overwhelmed. And even if Rebel wasn’t here, I can tell there’s something wrong. I used to know you pretty well, Chris. And those eyes of yours always give you away,” he chuckled softly as he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. 

“We don’t have to talk about it right now, but I hope we can one day,” he finished and she nodded. Rebel nudged her hand with his head again, trying to comfort her.

“Want to keep running?” Steve asked her softly and she nodded again. They ran in silence but this time she ran at the same pace as him, not leaving his side. On the way back to the tower, Christine insisted that they stop at her favorite smoothie place and she bought them both protein shakes.

“It’s very green,” Steve looked at the shake skeptical, making her laugh.

“It’s good for you,” she chuckled. “Plus it’ll help you get through your workout,” she insisted and he hesitantly took a sip.

“It taste green,” he told her and she couldn’t help but to laugh at his innocence. “I mean, it’s not bad. Just very green,” he said as they walked back to the tower.

“You’re as bad as Tony,” she shook her head as they continued their walk. When they reached the tower, they went straight towards the gym. Christine didn’t notice the blush on Steve’s face as she took off the sweatshirt she ran in, leaving her in just her leggings and sports bra. Christine didn’t really notice Steve at all as she moved around the gym, minding her own business as she completed her leg workouts. When she was done with her weight training, she wrapped her hands and moved to a punching bag. 

Steve watched her as she punched and kicked the punching bag. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she wasn’t doing this as part of her workout. Everything she felt, she took it out on this punching bag. Her bottled up thoughts and feelings, they were breaking through the surface as she punched the bag with every ounce of her strength. It didn’t take long for the bag to break from the chain it was hanging on, flying across the room from her punch. 

Christine stood there, breathing heavily with her hands on her hips. Finally, she realized Steve was there, standing in the corner with a look of concern in his eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly. Before he could say anything, she turned and left. 

“Hey JARVIS,” Steve said softly once he was alone.

“Yes, Captain Rogers?” the robotic, British voice asked.

“Where’s Tony?” 

“In his workshop on the 47th floor,” the AI informed him and Steve nodded before pressing the button to the elevator. 

When he got out of the elevator, he explored the floor until he stumbled upon Tony.

“Wow,” Steve breathed out when he saw the wall of Iron Man suits, finally realizing what Christine had been talking about.

“Steve?” Tony asked surprised. “Aren’t you and mom supposed to be in the gym?” He asked him, pulling up Christine’s schedule to double check.

“Well, we were,” Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “Then a punching bag flew across the room and she walked out without a word.” Tony sighed, gesturing to a stool for Steve to sit at. 

“Alright, Dummy, erase the board,” Tony called out and Steve watched as the robot rolled over to a white board.

DAYS SINCE LAST PUNCHING BAG WAS INSTALLED: 76

“It’s a pretty routine thing, but 76 was about to become the record for the longest lasting one,” Tony shook his head as he continued to work on his suit. 

“Mom’s doesn’t really like to share how she’s feeling, it’s hard for her to open up. It’s easier for her to act, so the punching bag is therapeutic for her.”

“Well, in our time, you weren’t really supposed to talk about your problems,” Steve told him and Tony nodded.

“I know, apparently it’s taboo to feel sad,” he rolled his eyes. 

“Rebel tries to comfort her a lot when I’m around,” Steve sighed and Tony nodded again. “Do you think it’d be easier on her if I were to leave?”

“No,” Tony’s attention snapped to Steve. “It would not be easier on her if you left -- it’d be worse.”

“I just wish I could do something right,” Steve rested his head in his hands.

“Take her on a date,” Tony suggested. Steve’s eyes grew huge at the thought and Tony noticed the color drain from his face. 

“Have you ever taken a girl on a date?” he chuckled.

“Only on double dates when Bucky would set them up,” Steve shook his head.

“Barnes, right? I’ve seen the exhibit in the museum,” Tony said and Steve furrowed his brows together. “When you’d go on dates in the past, what’d you do?”

“Go to the movies or Coney Island,” Steve shrugged.

“Coney Island, take her there,” Tony insisted. 

“I don’t have money or a vehicle,” Steve told him and Tony laughed. 

“Come on, Capsicle,” Tony walked over to a different elevator in the work area and Steve followed him. “First, I opened you a bank account,” he handed him a plastic card and Steve looked at it confused. 

“Right, you don’t know what a debit card is, it’s after your time,” Tony shook his head in disbelief. “So basically, the way banks work now is all of your money is at the bank and you can use any of that money at any time with this card and it will automatically come out of your account. You don’t need to carry cash, but I recommend it for tipping people because it won’t get taxed. The card has a four digit pin, it’s 1941. I believe that’s the year you met mom, I could be wrong. You can get cash out at the bank, at the ATM or some stores even have cash back options when you buy something. Happy can take you to the bank anytime you might need to make a deposit or withdrawal,” Steve nodded, listening carefully. He wished he had his notebook with him. 

“Second, I got you a cell phone. It’s just a basic flip phone, I figured simple was better. Just hold in ‘1’ to call mom, hold in ‘2’ to call me, and ‘3’ to call Happy,” Tony handed him the phone and Steve examined it and the card.

“How much money is on this?” he asked, looking at the piece of plastic.

“I put a million on to get you started,” Tony was nonchalant about the whole thing and Steve could have fell through the floor.

“One million dollars?” Steve exclaimed, his mouth hanging open.

“I believe Christine has told you we’re billionaires,” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Tony, I can’t--”

“You can and you will,” Tony exited the elevator and Steve looked around. 

“Wow,” he breathed out.

“You need a new word,” Tony told him as he looked around the garage. “So, pick a car.”

“What?” Steve asked him, his brows furrowed together.

“Preferably nothing Italian,” Tony smirked as he watched Steve walk through the cars. It didn’t take long before Steve’s eyes locked onto the corner of the garage and the super soldier practically ran to it. 

“A Harley man?” Tony asked as he walked to Steve, who was drooling over the motorcycle. 

“I had a ‘42 Harley-Davidson WLA Liberator that I used in missions,” Steve crouched next to the bike, looking it over. 

“Hop on it,” Tony insisted and Steve looked at him a child in a candy store. “Here,” Tony tossed him the keys. “Take it for a ride, get used to it. You’re not taking mom out on it without practicing.”

“Tony, I ca--”

“Steve, this would be a lot easier if you just accepted everything we wanted to give you,” Tony told him.

“Not without insisting it’s too much,” Steve told him and Tony sighed.

“Just take the bike out for a ride,” Tony told him before walking away. “And don’t crash it,” he called as he got in the elevator. 

Steve started the bike and he couldn’t help but to smile as it purred to life. Without hesitation, he put it in drive and took off out of the garage. He understood the phrase ‘It’s like riding a bike,’ more now than he ever had. Riding the bike felt natural to him as he darted between cars and rounded corners. He couldn’t help but to smile at the familiar feeling of the bike as he rode it through the streets of Manhattan. 

An hour had passed when Steve realized he had no idea where he was or how to get back to Stark Tower. He tried to spot the eye sore of a building, but he was surrounded by other ugly, tall buildings. Hungry and lost, he decided to park the bike outside of a cafe then went inside to grab a bite. He was horrified to see that a coffee was $5, but he swiped his plastic card and ordered some type of bagel sandwich as well. Before he sat down, he asked the barista for the address of the cafe, knowing he’d have to call someone for help. 

After sitting down, he pulled out his flip phone and pressed ‘2,’ he didn’t want Christine to know how clueless he really was.

“Oh good, you figured it out,” Tony answered the phone, his voice sounded strange. “You didn’t crash the bike, did you?”

“No,” Steve sighed. “I’m lost.”

“I figured that would happen, I’m just a block away from you,” Tony told him.

“How do you know where I am?” Steve looked around, confused.

“There is a tracker in your phone,” Tony informed him and Steve pulled the phone away from his ear, examining the device. Before Steve could say anything else, Tony was walking into the cafe, fully dressed in his Iron Man suit. There were only a couple of people in the cafe drinking their coffee, but they all began to gasp and take pictures of Tony.

“Found you,” Tony smirked as he sat down, still fully in his suit. “I figured when you stopped driving that you were lost.”

“How am I supposed to take Christine to Coney Island when I can’t even find your tower?” Steve sounded defeated.

“Once you’ve been somewhere, are you usually able to get back there on your own?” Tony asked him and Steve nodded, he considered himself to be pretty good with directions. “Alright, follow me back to the tower and I’ll then take you down to Coney Island and back.”

“I don’t want to waste your time,” Steve told him and Tony rolled his eyes.

“This is for my mom, it’s not a waste of time,” he insisted. “Now finish your bagel and put this in your ear,” he handed him an earpiece. “This way I can talk to you.” 

Steve scarfed down the remainder of his bagel and coffee before following Tony out of the cafe. He made sure the earpiece was secure before hopping on the bike and following Tony through the streets of New York. Every now and then, Tony would fly too fast or Steve would get stopped by a light and he would lose him, but then his voice would come over the comm and tell him where to turn. 

Steve couldn’t help but to get distracted by the city around him -- and then they reached Brooklyn and it was like Steve was transported in time. It was both the same and different, all at once. The red brick buildings were familiar, but the stores inside weren’t. He recognized alley ways that he’d get beat up in, alley ways where Bucky would intervene and help him out. 

He missed his pal in that instant, he wished he were there. If he were there, he’d be able to give Steve advice on how to go about things with Christine. Bucky always listened to Steve talk about her after Steve rescued him. Every time he’d mention her, Bucky would tell Steve he was an idiot for turning her down, even if he was just trying to protect her. 

_“IF you did die, which I’m not even sure you can, wouldn’t you rather die knowing that she knew how you felt about her?” Bucky would ask Steve. “Wouldn’t you rather her know?”_

_“Well, yeah, Buck, but it would hurt her even more if something did happen to me,” Steve insisted._

_“It’s not up to you to protect everyone, Steve,” he’d say._

_“But I’ll protect her anyway I can.”_

_“How do you know this is what’s best for her? It’s definitely not what’s best for you.”_

_“She’s already over me.”_

_“I think you’re wrong there, pal.”_

He should have listened to Bucky -- because he was right. The second Christine and Peggy caught him kissing that girl… he knew by the look on Christine’s face that Bucky was right. He spent the rest of the day looking for her, wanting to tell her he just wanted to protect her and that it was stupid because he was in love with her. But he never found her that night and the next day they had to move out.

“You okay down there, Steve?” Tony’s voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“Yeah,” he breathed out. 

“Well, you’ve missed the last two turns.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Is it weird being back in Brooklyn?”

“Very,” he whispered as he followed Tony down a side street. He knew these familiar streets so well that he didn’t need Tony to show him how to get to Coney Island from here. 

“This is a lot bigger than it was in the ‘40s,” Steve said when they finally reached Coney Island.

“America is obsessed with supersizing things,” Tony said. “Alright, let me show you back.” 

“I actually know the way back from here,” Steve told him. “Thanks Tony, I’m going to explore for awhile if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine, the bike is yours to keep.”

“Tony --”

“Later Steve,” he said before flying off. Steve shook his head, he wasn’t going to get used to their generosity. With the bike parked, Steve pulled out his phone and pressed one.

“Hello?” Christine answered, he could tell she was confused by the number.

“Hey, it’s Steve.”

“You have a phone?”

“Tony gave it to me,” he chuckled. “What are you doing this afternoon?”

“I just planned on showing you the internet,” she said, still confused.

“Can you be ready by two?” he chewed on his lip nervously.

“Yeah,” she breathed out, her heart stopped, her stomach dropped to her feet. 

“Great, wear comfy shoes and probably not a dress,” he chuckled as he looked down at his bike. “I’ll see you soon.” 

He hung up the phone and he couldn’t help but to smile. He checked the clock on his phone, it was almost eleven. He drove the rest of the way to Coney Island and flagged down an employee. He explained that he hadn’t been there in several years -- an understatement on his part -- and that he was trying to bring an important date there that evening and had too many questions about the park. 

The employee heard rumors online about people seeing Steve Rogers in the streets of Manhattan and recognized him from old comics he used to own and was eager to help him, even offering to give him a tour of the park now so that he could know what to expect before tonight. Steve was incredibly grateful that the employee spent about an hour with him, walking him through the park and explaining to him how things worked now.

“So, your date is with Christine Stark, right?” the employee eventually got up the nerve to ask and Steve looked at him confused.

“What?” he asked, unsure of how this kid knew anything about his life.

“There have been pictures online of the two of you together walking through Manhattan, I didn’t believe it was really you, Captain America. How are you even alive?”

“It’s a long story…” Steve mumbled. “Thanks for your help today,” he said before walking away, weirded out by the fact that the kid knew who he was and saw pictures of him. Steve checked his clock again, realizing he only had a couple hours left. He sped through the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, dodging between traffic. He finally got up the nerve to ask Christine out -- he wasn’t about to be late. He did, however, make a brief stop on his way back to the tower, picking up flowers for her. 

Christine paced her closet anxiously, waiting for Tony to come down to her suite.

“What’s up, mom?” he asked, a slight smirk on his face.

“I think Steve asked me on a date but I don’t know for sure,” she said, panicked.

“What do you mean?” he pretended to be confused. 

“Well, he called me up on the phone you apparently gave him and asked me if I was free this afternoon and if I could be ready by two,” she said quickly and it took everything in him not to chuckle. 

“Isn’t this what you want?”

“Well **yeah** , but I didn’t expect it to ever happen,” she told him. “And I don’t have any idea of what to wear, he didn’t tell me what we were doing. He just said to wear comfy shoes and not a dress. What does that even mean?” she continued to pace.

“You need to calm down,” he finally laughed. “I think I can help you with your outfit.”

“Did you know about this already?” she asked him.

“No,” he lied.

“You’re not as good of a liar as you think you are, Anthony” she stepped towards him. “Did you know?”

“I think it’s really important for Steve to have a man he can talk to during his transition to the 21st century,” he said coolly and she looked at him, dumbfounded.

“He came to you? And you were nice?”

“I have my moments,” he smirked. “Now, it’s a bit cooler out today, since it’s September and all, so I think you should wear these pants,” he pulled out a pair of black high waisted pants. “With this tank top tucked in,” he grabbed a black and white striped tank top, “with this black leather jacket and your black vans.”

“Are you sure?” she asked and he nodded. “This isn’t too casual? Or young?”

“You **are** young, mom. You don’t have to dress like a grandma because you’re technically ninety something.”

“Okay,” she breathed out.

“Carry this little crossbody bag and wear these aviators,” he handed her the final pieces and she let out a shaky breath. “I like the messy braid you have going on.”

“Thanks,” she laughed as she disappeared to get dressed.

“Perfect,” he smiled at her when she emerged. “You look beautiful.”

“I’m freaking out,” she told him and he laughed. “What if it’s not even a date and I’m reading into this because I want it to be a date?”

“Oh come on, Mom, it’s a date.”

“Do you know this for a fact?” she raised her brow and he couldn’t help but to laugh. 

“Two, right? I’m going to go ahead and go upstairs so I’m not here when he gets here. Also, you won’t be able to take Rebel,” he told her, thinking of the motorcycle.

“I didn’t plan on it,” she sighed. “You watch him?” 

“Of course,” Tony smiled. “Come on, Rebel,” he said and Rebel followed Tony closely as he left her suite. Christine checked her reflection one more time before going out to her living room, where she continued to pace.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been busy moving and didn't have internet for awhile. Also, if you didn't know, this is a story I wrote six years ago. But of course, that version is terrible and that would be why I'm rewriting it again. I love the character of Christine so much though that I'm writing a third version, which you can find here: https://quotev.com/story/11187360
> 
> If you love Bucky Barnes as much as I do, you might want to check it out.

At exactly two, Steve pushed open the door of the staircase that led into Christine’s suite. Christine stopped pacing, her attention immediately turned to him. The breath was knocked out of both of them when their eyes locked. Steve couldn’t help but to blush, a shy smile on his lips.

“You look amazing,” he said softly as he walked over to her. “These are for you,” he extended the bouquet of roses and sunflowers out to her.

“They’re beautiful,” she breathed out as she took them from him. “Thank you,” she smiled and he blushed again.

“Do we have time for me to put them in a vase?” she asked him.

“Of course,” he nodded and he followed her into the kitchen as she searched for a vase. 

“Did you know roses and sunflowers were my favorite?” she arched her brow, wondering if Tony told him.

“Are they really?” he asked, genuinely stunned. “No, I just really liked the combination of them.”

“I do, too,” she smiled as she cut the stems shorter before placing them in a vase. “Perfect,” she whispered when she was finished.

“Ready?” he asked her and she nodded. 

“Nice jacket,” she said as they got in the elevator, a slight smirk on her face.

“Great minds think alike,” he chuckled, fidgeting with his leather jacket nervously. “Rebel have the night off?” 

“Yeah,” she laughed. “He’s spending the evening with Tony.”

“That’s probably for the best,” he said as he opened the tower door for her. “I wasn’t sure how he’d ride on the bike,” he chuckled, picking up two helmets from the seat of the bike.

“Well, I understand the dress thing now,” she chuckled. “I should have known, I remember you rode one during the war.” 

“You remember that?”

“I remember everything from back then,” she said softly, taking one of the helmets from him and pulling it on. Steve adjusted it for her slightly before pulling on his own. After he mounted the bike he extended his hand to help her get on, he didn’t dare breathe as she pressed herself against him.. She wrapped her arms around him timidly and he let out a shaky breath before taking off down the streets of Manhattan. 

Both of them were internally freaking out, unable to believe that this was actually happening. Steve wanted to desperately know what Christine was thinking. Tony never outright said it, but he assumed that Christine still had feelings for him, seventy years later. And as much as Steve wanted that to be true, he also wished that it wasn’t. He didn’t want to think about the fact that for the last seventy years, she might have held onto her feelings for him, even though she thought he could never be back.

Christine couldn’t believe she was sitting on the back of Steve’s bike, her arms wrapped tightly around him as the drove through New York City. She couldn’t believe that he asked her out on a date, that he brought her her favorite flowers. She couldn’t believe how **shy** he was acting, even after everything -- he was still her Steve, that shy kid from Brooklyn that was always nervous around her. Seventy years of mourning him and he was literally in her arms, taking her on a date. She couldn’t believe her dreams were actually coming true -- and yet, she couldn’t help but to wonder what the catch was. 

Christine was so lost in her thoughts that she zoned out for the entire ride, but when Steve parked the bike and she looked around, she knew exactly where they were.

“Coney Island,” she smiled and Steve nodded, looking down shyly. “I haven’t been here in forever.”

“Me either,” he laughed as he helped her take off her helmet. “Shall we?” he asked after he put the helmets away. Laughing, she nodded and they made their way towards the amusement park.

“These rides are a lot bigger than I remember,” Steve looked around the park.

“Engineering has advanced quite a bit since the ‘40s,” Christine laughed. “We can start out small?”

“I think it’d be fitting to start with the Cyclone, that one was here the last time I was… even though it made me sick,” he laughed and she nodded. 

“So, what’s a typical day like for you?” Steve asked Christine as they waited in line for the ride. 

“Well, Rebel and I go for our run and then I head to the gym. After I train for an hour or two, I eat breakfast with Tony then get ready for the day before heading to the lab where I pretty much work until dinner. Then I eat, watch a movie or read a book before I go to bed,” she shrugged. 

“And on weekends?” he asked.

“Pretty much the same thing,” she told him.

“That doesn’t seem like much of a life,” he said softly and she shrugged.

“It’s not, it’s surviving,” she repeated the words he said when he first woke up. “I just try to keep myself busy. This is actually the first time in a long time that I’m not enrolled in any classes.”

“You really like to learn, huh?”

“I do,” she nodded. “I consider myself to be a curious person, and learning and discovering new things allows me to explore that curiosity. Plus, it’s something else to keep my mind busy.”

“Why’s that so important?” he asked her softly and she looked down nervously at her feet. 

“Because when I wasn’t preoccupied, all I could focus on was how much I missed you,” she whispered and he felt his heart break.

“Come on guys, are you riding or not?” one of the attendants yelled at them and they both jumped, not realizing they were at the gate. They both blushed as they awkwardly climbed into the train.

“I don’t remember the train being this small,” Steve said as he buckled himself in, making Christine laugh.

“I think maybe you just weren’t this big,” she giggled. The coaster jolted forward and began to slowly creep up the hill. Just when they reached the top, Christine raised her arms above her head. Steve couldn’t help but to watch her laugh as they flew down the hill. For the first time since he woke up, she looked genuinely happy and carefree.

“That was so much fun,” she laughed when the train rolled back into the loading dock. 

“Yeah, it was,” he smiled at her. They spent the rest of the afternoon running around the amusement park, riding rides, and playing games. Each time they won a game, they would find a child that they could give their prize to.

“Let’s go ride the ferris wheel,” Steve said at sunset and she nodded, following him to the ride. It didn’t take long for them to make their way through the line and get seated in their own bucket. Steve took a deep breath, he’d been waiting for this moment all day.

“Hey Christine,” he started and she turned her attention from the beach to him. “I don’t really know where to begin,” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “but there’s a lot you don’t know from before I went in the ice.”

“What do you mean?” she asked confused. 

“Well, I guess, first off,” he took a deep breath. “Peggy and I were never together.”

“But I saw you two, and the compass--”

“It was all staged, it was just a publicity stunt that only a couple people knew about. The compass… that was really just meant to be an advertisement for the company that made it,” he explained. “I never had feelings for her, and she knew that -- even though she did have feelings for me. I actually didn’t want to go along with it, but she convinced me to.”

“Wow,” she breathed out. “I can’t believe she never told me that, even after…”

“I think I know why she didn’t,” he said softly, reaching into his pocket. “This is actually the photo I always had with me on missions,” he handed her the photo and he could practically hear the air get knocked out of her. 

“I always wondered where this photo was,” she whispered. 

“It was in my hand when the plane went down,” he said softly.

“Steve…” she breathed out. 

“I always had feelings for you, Christine. Before the transformation, afterwards… all the way up until I crashed that plane. I wanted to protect you,” he sighed. “I wanted to protect you from getting hurt if something happened to me while I was on the front lines. After my transformation, I thought I was going to go straight to war. I didn’t know that I was going to become the country’s puppet… If I did, I would have ki-” she cut him off by kissing him, something she had been wanting to do since she met him at training. He kissed her back eagerly, his hands moving to cup her face to deepen the kiss. 

For the first time in seventy years, her heart felt whole, whole and full of love. 

They kissed each other desperately, passionately, like they needed each other to survive -- because they did. They needed each other now more than ever. Fireworks started to go off on the beach and they pulled apart, laughing at the coincidence. 

“I came looking for you the night before I left to tell you how I felt,” he told her. “I thought you were over me after I told you it wasn’t the right time… but then you saw me and that girl… and I realized you weren’t. I was such an idiot.”

“I always wondered what you were going to say,” she whispered. “I have kicked myself for running every single day.”

“That’s what I didn’t want to happen,” he sighed. “I wanted to protect you from the pain of me dying.”

“Nothing you could have done would have protected me from that pain,” she told him. “But, you’re here now.”

“And I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered before leaning in to kiss her again, but the kiss only lasted a few seconds, they were both smiling too much.

“This was well worth the seventy year wait,” Christine rested her forehead against his.

“You really never let me go?” Steve whispered and she shook her head.

“Something in my heart knew not to… I mean, I tried,” she laughed. “I really tried, but I couldn’t… and now I know why, because you were always meant to come back.” 

“Will you be mine?” he asked her softly.

“I always have been,” she told him and he kissed her again, his hands cupping her face, pulling her closer to him. 

“Alright, love birds, time to get off,” the ride attendant said and they pulled apart, both blushing a deep shade of red as they exited the ferris wheel awkwardly. When they were finally away from the ride attendant, Christine looked over at Steve and they both burst out laughing. 

“Come on,” he chuckled, taking her hand and leading her to the go-karts.

“Oh, I love go-karts!” she exclaimed as they got in line. The line was short and it didn’t take long until they were buckling themselves in. 

“Try to keep up,” she called over her shoulder just as the light turned green. She sped off but he followed closely behind. He thought for a moment that he was going to pull ahead and pass her, but she cut him off and proceeded to win.

“You tried,” she patted him on the shoulder after they left the go-karts.

“Hey,” he laughed and he pulled her into his arms. “You’re a bit competitive, aren’t you?” he chuckled, looking down at her.

“Maybe,” she laughed.

“I think people are taking pictures of us,” Steve whispered in her ear as he looked around, seeing phones pointed in their direction.

“They are,” she confirmed. “They’re probably shocked that not only is Christine Stark actually out of her tower AND on a date, but Steve Rogers is actually alive and the two Captain America’s are dating… This is going to be big news.”

“This is worthy of being news?” Steve asked, confused.

“Oh yeah,” she laughed. “Society cares more about ‘celebrities’ than what’s going on in the world.”

“Should we go?” he asked her.

“I don’t want to, but if you’re uncomfortable…”

“No, no. Let’s keep riding rides,” he smiled down at her and held her hand as they walked through the amusement park.

“Can we get an elephant ear?” Christine asked him.

“A what?” his eyes doubled in size. 

“It’s going to change your world,” she insisted, dragging him to a nearby stand. They waited a few minutes as they made a fresh one and Christine was giddy when the server finally handed it over.

“What is that?” Steve laughed and she rolled her eyes as she dragged him to a nearby bench. She ripped off a piece of it and offered it to him. He looked skeptical, unable to get over the fact that it was called an elephant ear.

“Trust me,” she laughed and he accepted the cinnamon sugar covered dough. 

“Oh my god,” he said after he ate the dough. “You were right, we might have to get another,” he tore off another piece but this time he offered it to her and she happily took it.

“We’re that cheesy couple,” Christine laughed.

“Who cares,” Steve chuckled and ate another piece himself. “Why is this so good?”

“It’s fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar,” she told him like it was a fact. 

“Why is it called an elephant ear?”

“Because it’s as big as one,” she couldn’t stop smiling. This was better than any dream she had ever had.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” he whispered, causing her to blush.

“You are not as shy as you once were,” she laughed softly and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“I just think we both have waited long enough and I don’t want to waste anymore time being shy…”

“I agree,” she smiled at him. They spent the rest of the evening running around the amusement park like kids; riding rides, eating park food, and playing games. Before they left, Christine dragged Steve into a photo booth, wanting pictures to remember this night -- even though she knew she would never forget it.


	20. Chapter 20

“Tell me everything,” Tony and Rebel greeted Christine the second she got off the elevator. 

“Hello to you, too,” she laughed. Tony noticed her laugh was light, she couldn’t stop smiling, and her cheeks were flushed. 

“He kissed you,” he said and all she could do was laugh as she made her way into her suite, taking her hair out of her braid. 

“Yeah,” she said cooly as she went over to her flowers, arranging them better than she had before.

“Mom,” Tony exclaimed, trying to get her to focus on him.

“Sorry,” she laughed and sat down on a bar stool. “It was… perfect,” she sighed, looking down at the photo strip from the night. 

“I’m going to need more than that,” Tony said impatiently.

“He took me to Coney Island and we rode rides and played games,” she explained. “Then at sunset we rode the ferris wheel and he told me that he always had feelings for me, that what he had with Peggy was just a publicity stunt…” She paused for a moment, finally realizing that all of this time -- Peggy knew.

“He told me that,” Tony told her and he watched her become visibly angry. “Hey now, don’t get mad at me-”

“I’m not mad at you,” she hopped off the bar stool and began to pace through her living area. “I’m mad at Peggy. For the last seventy years, she let me believe that Steve chose her over me. She knew that I told Steve I had feelings for him and after he passed away, it was very obvious that I still did. Even when she met someone else and got married, she **still** didn’t bother to tell me that what they had was never real. What a -”

“Bitch,” Tony finished for her and she nodded. “I agree, it was a bitch move. She allowed you to suffer for decades, thinking he chose her over you.” She let out a deep breath.

“It doesn’t matter, though, because he did choose me,” she shook her head, trying to let go of her anger. 

“So, are you two… dating?”

“Yeah,” she smiled softly. 

“Oh thank god,” Tony sighed with relief and Christine rolled her eyes. “I still don’t think he deserves you, though.”

“The serum was designed to make him literally perfect,” she laughed. 

“The serum was also used on you AND you were first choice, it doesn’t get more perfect than you.”

“You’re my son, you have to say that,” she shook her head.

“I may be your son, but I am also Tony Stark and I don’t sugar coat things,” he told her and she shook her head before going into her bathroom to wash her face.

“Are you happy?” he asked from the doorframe and she turned towards him.

“I am,” she smiled and it was unlike any smile he had ever seen from her. 

“Good,” he said softly. “I’m going to head to bed,” he told her and they said their goodnights..

 

Steve laid down in his bed, a smile on his face. He couldn’t believe that today was real, that Christine was finally his. 

He wished Bucky was there so he could tell him, tell him he finally got the courage up to tell her the truth. He knew Bucky would be proud of him then tease him relentlessly about it. Even though he was happy, he couldn’t help but to miss his best friend. 

 

The next morning, Christine sat at the kitchen island with her laptop while Tony made breakfast.

“This is ridiculous,” she scrolled through Twitter.

“If it helps, they are cute photos,” Tony peered over her shoulder and she slapped him away. 

“‘Captain America’s heart has thawed - just like her lover,’” she read the headline out loud. 

“I mean, it is true,” Tony laughed from the stove. “You’ve been around long enough to not be surprised by this, mom.”

“It’s just ridiculous,” she shook her head. 

“Good morning,” Steve entered the kitchen.

“Speaking of the frozen lover,” Tony laughed and Christine hurled a roll of paper towels at his head, only gaining another chuckle from him. Steve looked at her confused and she sighed.

“We are trending on Twitter,” she told him and his brows furrowed together, not knowing what ‘trending’ or ‘Twitter’ meant.”

“What’s a Twitter?” he asked and Tony laughed even harder.

“It’s a social media platform,” she tried to explain. “Basically, people are able to create profiles on Twitter and they then post ‘tweets’ which are just brief online comments about what they are thinking, feeling, or doing. Social media is a way to digitally connect with millions of people all over the world in a matter of seconds.”

“So, what does ‘trending’ mean?” he asked him.

“Well, when millions of people are all talking about the same thing, it becomes trending,” she told him. “Currently, there are 1.3 million tweets about us.”

“And counting,” Tony added in. “It might become the highest trending topic -- ever.”

“Here, you can look at what people are saying,” she offered and he leaned over her shoulder. She showed him how to scroll with the mouse pad and he began reading through the tweets.

“The pictures of us are nice,” he smiled down at her.

“SEE,” Tony yelled from the stove. 

“‘Stark’s heart found frozen in the Atlantic,’” Steve read over her shoulder.

“My favorite is, ‘Stark not a bitch, just needed laid,’” Tony laughed.

“Anthony,” Christine hissed at him.

“A lot of these seem kind of nice,” Steve ignored Tony as he continued to scroll.

“Those are the fans, not the media outlets,” she explained. 

“They seem happy for you,” he looked at her, his face only a few inches from hers as he was still leaning over her shoulder.

“Yeah, they do,” she smiled. 

“Alright you two, breakfast is done,” Tony said as he began to load the kitchen island with food: fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy.

 

“You don’t really seem like the cooking type,” Steve said to him. “No offense.”

“My talents only extend to breakfast food,” Tony told him, looking to his mom.

“It’s all I know how to cook,” Christine laughed. “I really wanted to teach him to cook though so we made a lot of breakfast food growing up.”

“The best kind of food,” Tony smiled as he got plates, mugs, and cups out for everyone. Christine filled each mug with coffee and the glasses with juice before sitting down. 

“I used to be pretty good at cooking,” Steve said as everyone sat down and began to serve themselves.

“Really?” Christine asked.

“I was on my own a lot growing up because my dad was at war and my mom worked constantly, I had to learn to take care of myself,” he shrugged.

“We usually have a chef come in or we order out,” Tony told him. “If you ever need a bigger kitchen than the one in your suite, feel free to take advantage of this one.”

“Tony, this is delicious,” Steve said after he took a bite. 

“We’ve mastered the breakfast thing,” Tony high fived Christine. 

When they were done eating breakfast, Christine grabbed her laptop and led Steve to the living room. 

“So, the Internet,” she said as they sat on the couch, Rebel laying at their feet. “It’s a global computer network that you can use for practically anything. Almost everything is ran by the internet: computers, phones, TVs, gaming systems. There are millions of websites from around the world that make up the World Wide Web, making it possible to get information on anything. You can look things up, communicate with people via emails and messaging applications, buy things or hire someone for a service, access your bank online, play games, watch TV shows, movies, videos or listen to radio shows, take online courses… the possibilities are endless.”

“That’s a lot,” Steve breathed out.

“It’s overwhelming,” she nodded. “It’s incredibly useful though. To use it, you click on this icon here and once it loads, you can type what you need in here,” she showed him. “For example, say I want to go to a good burger place, I can just type in ‘burgers near me,’ and because my location on my computer is already turned on, it will show me places nearby. It’ll tell me how many miles away it is and also show me reviews from real customers. The more stars, the better the place. Some places also have websites where you can see the menu or even order the food and have it delivered.” 

“Lets not go to this place,” he pointed at the list of burger places. “It only has one star.”

“We’ll definitely avoid it,” she laughed. They spent the next two hours exploring the internet, looking at websites, and answering Steve’s questions.

“You show him where to find the good porn, yet?” Tony walked into the room.

“Anthony,” she yelled at him and he laughed.

“That’s on the internet?” Steve asked, eyes wide.

“Oh yeah, tons of it,” Tony told him. 

“Go back to your lab,” Christine rolled her eyes.

“I’m stuck and you’re too busy to help,” he pouted and she sighed. 

“Alright, show me the problem,” she stood up.

“Can I watch you guys work?” Steve asked them and Christine nodded. The three of them piled into the elevator and rode to their lab. Before looking at Tony’s issue, Christine grabbed an empty sketchpad from the ones she used to sketch out ideas. She grabbed some pencils as well and handed it all to Steve.

“In case you get bored,” she whispered and he smiled appreciatively. 

Steve watched amazed as graphics and numbers seemed to hover in the air with one movement of Christine’s hands. 

“Holograms,” she chuckled when she saw Steve’s reaction. He watched her as she explored each of the holograms, making them bigger and spinning them around. He couldn’t help but to smile as he watched her work, it reminded him of the forties. 

Although he never saw her work in her lab alongside Dr. Erskine, he did see her work alongside Howard after the war. He would catch himself watching her every now and then, something she never noticed back then -- but now he understood why. 

Everything else disappeared when she was working, except for maybe Tony’s voice. Steve watched Christine mumble, talking herself through her thought process. Tony muttered next to her, adding in his own opinions and ideas.

When he realized he would never understand what they were talking about, he opened up the sketchpad and put pencil to paper. 

 

“That’s pretty good,” Tony said behind him, looking at the sketch. Steve jumped, not realizing Tony was behind him.

“I’m a little rusty,” Steve blushed and Tony shook his head, walking back over to where Christine was working. Steve wasn’t sure how long they had been working, but he was starting to feel hungry.

“I need a break,” Christine looked away from the holograms, rubbing her temples. 

“You got way farther than I did,” Tony rubbed the back of his neck. 

“How are you doing, Steve?” Christine asked him.

“A little hungry,” he laughed. “How long have we been down here?”

“About four hours,” she told him and he looked visibly shocked. “Time flies in this room,” she chuckled. 

“Do you guys have any plans the rest of the day?” Tony asked Christine and she nodded. He raised his brows, wanting to know more but Christine shook her head. “Alright, well, I’m going to go find Pepper. Come on Rebel,” he called and Rebel’s followed him out of the room. Steve looked at Christine, wondering where the two of them were going. 

“Is it okay that I assumed you didn’t have plans already?” she asked him, making him laugh.

“It’s a safe assumption,” he chuckled. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! All rights and characters with the exception of my original character, Christine Lane, belong to Marvel.


End file.
